Not An Average Trip to Nozu
by SummerMelodies
Summary: When tragedy strikes, in the form of a horrific kidnapping, the Hollywood Arts Gang get into some deep chiz. Even worse when the Mafia get involved- wait, the Mafia? The teens have to really stick by each other to push through the hard times, but can they make it out in one piece and why is the Mafia envolved? Only one way to find out...
1. Chapter 1

**This is a bit of a weird story in all honesty. Not only because it is slightly outlandish but also because I've never seen anything like it before, especially not within the Victorious Fandom. Either way, I hope you enjoy reading.  
**

**Author's Note: Most of this is factual, but for the sake of plot and because I don't know everything about the Mafia, there will be some intentional and unintentional errors within this story.**

* * *

There are 5 main Mafia 'Families' in America. These are the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese, crime families, each with their designated territory, structured in a monarch-like hierarchy. They all work in a 'you stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours' kinda thing, making sure to not tread on each other's territory, unless they were planning on starting a fight.

**The Bonanno crime family** operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island. The family also maintains influence in Manhattan, The Bronx, Westchester County, New Jersey, and Florida, and have ties to the Montreal Mafia in Quebec.

**The Colombo crime family** operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. The family also maintains influence in Staten Island, Manhattan, The Bronx, New Jersey, and Florida.

**The Gambino crime family** operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island. The family also maintains influence in The Bronx, New Jersey, Westchester County, Connecticut, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Florida, and Los Angeles.

**The Genovese crime family** operates mainly in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. The family also maintains influence in Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Westchester County, Rockland County, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Florida.

**The Lucchese crime family** operates mainly in The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. The family also maintains influence in Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, Westchester County, and Florida.

As you can see, only one family operates in LA, and will therefore be the main focus of this story. The Gambino family, named after the original leader Carlo Gambino. However, not everyone in this family has the name Gambino anymore: Cali, Gallo, Castellano, Valentine, Mangano and a long list of other very Italian sounding names were also remembers of this 'family'.

The Gambino Crime Family had the whole of LA under their control, the police couldn't touch them as they could arrest individuals, but never take down the whole family. Due to that, someone would have to be extremely violent and forceful, something the police would never do. This is where Gangs get involved. The gangs of LA have always been a threat to the Gambino's, but separately they could do no more damage than a lighter underwater. That doesn't mean they should be ignored though, because even that lighter could still cause a spark, and then that spark spreads. You see, there are times where street gangs evolve and think they are strong enough to join the Mafia and create their own 'family'. This is where the Reato's, or the 'unofficial 6th Family', come into play. The Reato Family are a combination of a few gangs in LA, who were sick of the Gambino Family and their ways, working together to try and take them down.

No uprising like this had ever worked in the past, but there's a first time for everything.

Their first attempt at over-throwing the Gambino rule was largely successful in the Reato's part as they had somehow murdered the Gambino leader, Jesse Valentine. Admittedly, it was a fluke, some gang members being in the right place at the right time, or wrong place depending on how you look at it. Either way, the Gambino Family was left within a moment of weakness, with the gangs suddenly stronger than ever. This certainly was not good news for the Gambinos.

You, as a reader, may be wondering why I am telling you this. But there is no need to fret as all will shortly be revealed...

* * *

Cat POV

No one would ever suspect that my zio (_Uncle_) Jesse was a Mafia boss. From his big brown eyes which screamed innocence to the composed and flirtatious way he presented himself, my zio was one of the kindest people you would ever meet. Of course I knew he was a Mafia boss, my life practically revolved around the Mafia. That doesn't necessarily mean I like it though. The amount of family and friends, including my zio, I have lost to shootups against the cops, enemies or even allies, is too many to mentally recall in one sitting. I hate the violence my family causes, but I still have to be trained and taught the family ways, to keep myself safe or to continue its ways myself. Of course, all the training was for a hypothetical situation until now.

The family trade was never meant to fall into my hands. But now it has. Well, it hasn't quite yet. After my uncle's murder, his son (my cousin) Jesse Jr, was meant to take over the family business. However, straight after the funeral, he fled the country and now no-one knows where he's gone. So the title fell to my Dad, and after him will be me.

Now, I know what you're thinking 'Cat, what about your older brother?' Well, ever since he fell out of 4-story hotel in Las Vegas and landed on a roof of a shuttle bus, he's not exactly been mentally stable and was removed from the family business. Meaning if my dad were to pass away. It would all be left to me.

In all honesty, my brother running the family business would definitely not be a good idea as he's always getting into mad and dangerous situations, and many time's he nearly given away our secret. Firstly, he got shot on a bus by my cousin Jesse when he was dressed up as a clown. Next he was stabbed in Japan. One time he smashed a glass vase over my head. He's constantly playing 'hide and seek' with the police for the strangest things, like that time he stole 23 'Christmas trees' from a park. And even got 12 gallons of blood for Jade's play, not realising she wanted _fake _blood. A lot of these things make more sense now knowing that he's a part of a Mafia family.

Either way it's lucky that I'm prepared to take leadership. Ever since I could walk and talk in coherent sentences; I've been taught how to defend myself. From Mixed Martial Arts to knowing how to conceal and shoot a gun. Long hours of training has given me to ability to move almost without sound and to be more deadly in close combat than most men double my size. To someone unaccustomed to me; these small lithe limbs are an advantage. They see a teenage girl still skinny and small, non-threatening. Then either I am left alone or they underestimate the skill required to take me down. Protection is a very valuable skill to me, anything could happen at any moment, especially with our enemies growing by the day. The daughter of a Mafia Boss could be used for multiple forms of ransom, and bait, but I'm safe as long as I use my common sense and stay alert.

This is something no one knows about me. All my friends think I'm going to grow up to be a makeup artist or singer. None of them would suspect the happy, bubbly, kindhearted Cat Valentine was secretly the heir to a Mafia throne. I'm too happy, naive, crazy, hyper, innocent, open, adorable, weak, dumb... or so they think. I take pride in my ability to hide my true personality, and I honestly can't wait 'till the day my friends find out who they've been hanging around with all this time.

Until then, however, this is my secret and I intend to keep it that way.


	2. Chapter 2

Still Cat POV

It had just been 'one of those days'. A day where nothing really out of the ordinary happens. I had my morning lessons as normal, Sikowits announced something random whilst sipping from a coconut as normal (though that could be argued to be abnormal), the lunch bell rang as normal, and my 5 friends and I sat in our regular table at the Asphalt cafe as normal. The only thing that would stand out as 'different' was amidst some of our regular lunchtime chatter, when Beck decided to change the conversational topic to one we never ventured to before. The world of crime. "So I was in Downtown LA last night-" he began, flourishing his fork lightly as he talked.

"We get it, you went Downtown. Stop bringing it up!" Jade snapped at her boyfriend suddenly, slamming her hand onto the thick blue plastic table.

"This is the first I've talked about it!" Beck replied, in an equally harsh tone. "Why do you turn everything into an argument?"

"I like getting a reaction." Jade shrugged, her voice suddenly back to a neutral timbre, taking a bite of her burrito.

Beck looked at her quizzically for a number of seconds before continuing with his story. "Basically, when I was there I heard this spurt of gunshots and then a blackout car sped past me and down the street. It was some really scary chiz."

I felt myself stiffen at his worlds, knowing exactly what that drive-by was about and who did it. Last night my father received a very cryptic message from one of the Reato leaders, telling him to meet in their hide-out downtown 'if he dared'. The idiot sender clearly forgot to keep watch out, as my father arrived an hour before the specified time and just shot them all down while they were unprepared. It was the talk of the house last night, and quite a hilarious affair to me and Dad, though in hindsight we were laughing at death... ah who cares? They deserved it.

"What'd you think it was about?" Tori asked, interested by Beck's words, abide slightly mortified.

"No clue." Beck shrugged. "It's just kinda scary ya know."

"It's probably some gang stuff." Robbie spoke up, wanting to add something to the conversation at hand.

"Yeah." Rex added, sat upon Robbie's hand like normal. "I know some guys in a lot of chiz within the LA gangs."

"Really?" Jade asked, faking interest. "I didn't know gangs had puppets."

"That's an offensive term!" Robbie defended, covering Rex's ears with his free hand.

"That's a good point actually." Tori added.

"That 'puppet' is an offensive term?" Andre asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What? No." Tori shook her head. "The gang thing. My Dad was saying that the Police were having a lot of trouble with keeping these gangs under control. Something about the Reecho family."

"Reato." I corrected under my breath.

"What?" Tori asked.

I blanked momentarily, trying to think of a way to recover the situation. "Reecho." I giggled to myself, hiding my knowledge with the childish action. "Reeeeecho. It's a funny word."

"You're a mess." Jade grumbled, passing it off as my daily shenanigans.

It's worrisome how easily deceived my friends are. I shook my head to myself as they change the subject to where we were going to go rehearse the script for Sikowitz's new play. I kinda felt sorry for everyone else in our class because Sikowitz always gives us the main parts and not them. Not my problem I guess.

"How about Nozu?" André suggested. "I could use me some Spicy Tuna."

"Umm." I gulped. The back alleys behind and near Nozu are a prime spot for gangs at the moment and I need to keep my friends away from that situation. "I heard that a load of people got food poisoning there last week." I lied quickly in a feeble attempt to convince them against their choice.

"How do you get food poisoning from sushi?" Tori asked, pocking her salad with a fork. "Nothing there is cooked."

"It... it might not have been stored properly." I blurted out.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure they've sorted it out by now." Beck shrugged.

"Nozu it is then." André announced.

I couldn't hide my sigh as the group started choosing a time and who would drive to the restaurant. I couldn't stop them from going without seeming too suspicious. The chances of the gangs being in operation while we eat is really slim, unless for some reason we decide to eat really late at night.

"I almost forgot, I've gotta visit my Gran tonight till like 8pm." André sighed.

"That's alright, we'll just go to Nozu's for 8:30." Beck spoke up. "Good thing it's a Friday so we can just stay there till late."

Now we _are_ staying there late... great.

* * *

We decided that, to save gas, Jade would drive me and Tori, while Beck would drive the boys. However, due to that taking longer and us having poor planning, we didn't end up arriving till almost 9pm, which was already too late for my liking.

I'm not normally a hyper-aware person, but when my friends are in potential danger, nothing can get past me. Before leaving the house I puled out my German-built 10mm Glock Automatic Pistol. After I made sure it was loaded, I slipped it into the waistband of my trousers, hidden under my shirt. I'm hoping like hell I wont have to use it, or else I'll have a lot of explaining to do. '_I always carry a gun around and know how to use it, don't you?' _doesn't sound very convincing... or sane.

After Jade parks the car about a block away from Nozu's I feel my heart beat dramatically increase. I have walked these streets my whole life, I know them just the same as if they were etched in my head with a sharp knife, scored in deep like some strange work of art. These are the streets I've grown up on and for the most part I'm calm here. Not tonight though. Tonight my heart wants out of my chest. It wants to beat free of its cage. It pounds like it's going to crack a rib. My senses are on high alert. Every colour is brighter, every noise louder, every stranger a cause to make my heart beat more fiercely still. It's been like that since my Dad was made the leader and the Reato's started gaining power. I'm out in the open right now and a gang member could jump out from anywhere and kill either me or one of my friends. Subconsciously, I pull up the hood of my jacket, covering my red-hair. I regret the colour, it's brightness is like a neon-sign pointing me out to every potential threat around me.

"Trying to hide from someone are we?" I hear Jade ask, walking down the street beside me and Tori.

I feel my face go red and I mentally try to recall whether I'd just said my thoughts out loud or not, but after seeing the bored, sarcastic look on her face, I know she's joking. "It's just cold." I mumbled.

"Then I'd suggest zipping your hoodie up." She rolled her eyes, pointing to how my hoodie was openly flowing in the nonexistent wind, revealing my lie.

"Oh yeah." I replied dumbly, in a very 'Cat-like' manner.

"Someday you'll say something intelligent." Jade rolled her eyes, grabbing the back of my hood and pulling it down.

As we continued to walk down the street towards the restaurant, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. I subconsciously moved my hand down to where my gun was secured. Don't worry, Jade and Tori won't notice what I'm doing, their oblivious and I'm well trained at deception.

Beside Nozu's was a dark alleyway for the restaurant suppliers to use, or gangs as of more recent times. I can't help but flinch as I see movement past the dark abyss of shadow which blankets the hideaway. Tori must have caught me looking as we walked past 'cause she decided to comment on it. "Isn't that where Robbie did that ham-boning thing?" She asked

"Don't remind me." Jade shook her head and kept walking, opening to restaurant door and walking in, 'forgetting' to hold it open for Tori and I.

* * *

"Girls!" Beck called us over to the table he and the other boys were sat at as soon as I'd re-opened the door for Tori and I to walk in.

We obediently walked over to their table and sat down on the three empty seats, pulling our scripts out of our bags. "Food first." Andre said, motioning for us to put the script away. "Food and then rehearsing. I'm too hungry for acting."

We called a waiter over and ordered our normal array of Japanese cuisine: Miso Soup, Seaweed Salad, Spring rolls, Salmon Nigiri, Cucumber Rolls, Tuna Rolls and _ughhh I can feel my mouth watering again_. For the next 2 hours nothing much really happened. We ate our food, talked quite a bit and then received some very concerned looks from other people as we dramatically read through our scripts. I've gotta admit, that even though I have to hide a lot of things from them, they are the best people in the world and the ones I'd trust with anything. They're all such funny people, and even managed to take my mind off of our potential danger.

That was until it became time for us to leave. We all knew that the restaurant closed at 11, so we'd have to pack up around then and maybe crash at Tori's to finish any scenes we'd yet to fully go over. In hindsight, practising so late at night is just going to make us go loopy, but we all know you're more likely to be more dramatic when you're hyper.

"Why do we always have to go to my place?" Tori asked as we got up from the table and hoisted our bags over our shoulders.

"Cause Beck lives in an RV, Andre's Grandma is constantly over at his house, no one wants to go to Robbie's and I wouldn't let any of you within a mile radius of my house." Jade replied bluntly, leading us all out of the restaurant.

"What about Cat's?" Tori suggested.

"For once, you've got a point." Jade said. "Why don't we ever go to you house ay Valentine?"

I felt myself stiffen under her glare. "Um... because..." I stuttered. "Last time we had people over, my brother-" I started to lie.

"I remember now." Tori shook her head to herself, cutting me off as we started walking down the steet. "Your brother's the reason why."

"Hey remember when I had a ham-boning fight down there." Robbie spoke up dorkily as we past the dimly lit alley way.

"Don't remind me." Jade repeated what she's said to Tori the first time we'd walked past it.

"How about you all come down here?" A unknown voice spoke up. I snapped my neck around to see a man, in his late twenties, resting against said alley wall with a face of utter nonchalance, as if he were merely waiting for a bus on a spring day. He wasn't slumped at all, his body was clearly too muscular for that, yet it was just as relaxed as his face. He was almost smiling - smiling as if something good were about to happen. The world falls through my feet. Good for him was likely bad for us. Very bad.

"We're good man." Andre replied awkwardly, trying to shuffle us away.

"Not so fast. Come on Valentine-" the man addressed me, and me alone. "-why don't you tell your friends what's best for them." A group of 5 hoodlums appeared from the shadows behind him, clearly members of his gang. Each of them wore masks though they discarded them quickly. The effect beneath was the same when they took them off. Whoever they once were, boys grinning on each Christmas Eve, they were now buried deep, lost with a cruel, evil smirk plastered across their faces.

"C...Cat?" I heard Tori mumbled behind me, backing away slowly with the rest of them. "Do you know these guys?"

I blatantly ignored Tori and whispered for my friends to run. "I'll catch you up later." I said.

"We're not leaving you here!" Beck whisper-yelled back to me.

"The more the merrier." The gang-leader smirked, nodding to the men behind him. "Grab 'em." He spat.

As the men walked towards us, I motioned once again for my friends to run, but as soon as the men pulled their guns out, I knew it was too late. One man walked towards me and I complied like I'd been taught by my father, '_wait until they think you're vulnerable, and then strike_'. One of the men got closer and I locked eyes with him, he couldn't have been much older than me, yet I can't underestimate this gang boy, however young he is. Right now the kid's got only cold eyes and he's following all the wrong animal instincts. Truly, he's a boy with no mama, or at least one that can't reach him, and in the end it's all the same. All he craves is the gang leader's approval and perhaps the drugs if they've started him on those already. He roughly grabbed my hands and held them behind my back as other men were doing to my friends, they unfortunately weren't complying like me.

"GUYS!" I yelled, shocking them all into silence. "Do you honestly think struggling will do anything?"

"I see your father raised a smart girl Valentine." The leader smirked at me, I felt myself shudder. "Line 'em up." He told the other gang members. With my friends no longer fighting, and now giving me quizzical and scared looks, the men easily lead them to the wall and held them all up against each other. "Spike." He addressed the boy behind me. "Let Valentine go, I wanna mess with her a second. The rest of you search her friends."

I heard Jade scream out, and her captor violently knee her in the spine to silence her while he rummaged around her pockets for a phone and such. Spike realised his grip on my arms and shoved me forward, so that I was only about 5ft away from the leader. "Reato." I spat his name, I could here Tori gasp in recognition of his name, he was the leader of our enemies. This was Michael Reato, the eldest son of the gang's leader, Carlo.

"This, young Valentine-" he began, pulling a small pistol out of his pocket. "-is a gun."

"No shit Sherlock." I rolled my eyes, how dumb did he think I was? I know what I said probably made him angry, but I had to hide my fear, and by his reaction it seemed to work.

He tossed the gun between his hands, leaving it to lay loosely in his right, his finger gently pressed against the trigger sending a bullet millimeters away from my face and onto the wall behind me with a bang that echoed throughout the alley. His eyebrow raised in amusement at my reaction; nothing, not a flinch, not a single damn thing. The only ones who did react were my friends. "I'm impressed." He chuckled to himself. "Your father also raised a girl with guts, to bad your Uncle wasn't the same."

"My uncle was a good man!" I snapped, my hand shot down to the waist of my trousers and pulled my own pistol out, shooting instantly, the bullet lodging itself into his shoulder.

"YOU BITCH!" The leader screamed, raising the gun again and aiming it at my head. Quickly I ducked down as the bullet shot past me. "Men! Get them in the van, I've got _her." _

It didn't take Einstein to know that he was referring to me. The 5 men, who had a hold on my friends, shoved them roughly into the white van at the end of the alley way, whilst the leader and Spike stayed out facing me. I knew now that I couldn't escape without leaving my friends, but I wouldn't go down without a fight.

When it comes to a fight there's no honour, no code. All that matters is the win, taking nothing for granted. I raised my gun again to take another shot at Reato, when I felt my body get tackled to the ground by Spike, in the distance I could hear Robbie cry out from the van, where he and the others were being tied up with ropes and zip ties. Being small has always been my disadvantage in fights, but it doesn't mean I'm weak. I slipped my hands down to Spike's ribs and roughly pushed him off, kicking his groin as I did so. I quickly rolled out from underneath him and tried to grab my gun from the ground beside me when Reato's foot made contact with the barrel and kicked it away. In response, I grabbed his ankle and used all my force to pull him to the ground. By the grunt he made as his body collided with the ground, I knew I'd caused some damage. By this point however, Spike had made his way back to his feet and grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me up off of the ground.

"You're quite the Minx aren't you?" He snarled, suddenly using his free hand to punch me across the face. I felt the left side of face well up with pain as his fist made contact, but I made sure to make no reaction.

"Chuck her in the van." Reato grumbled, getting to his feet and putting a hand to his shoulder which was still bleeding from the gunshot. "But search her down first."

Another one of the gang members returned to help Spike keep me still as they searched my body, lingering on my butt for quite a bit longer than I would have liked. It was stupid how careless they where being in all honesty, I could have easily fought both of them off and ran, but I'd never leave my friends behind. That's not the way of the Gambino Crime Family. We may be part of the Mafia, but sticking together comes before everything else.

Violently, I was chucked into the van, where the rest of my friends laid, their hands and legs tied together, a mouth gag over Jade, Tori and Robbie, presumably because they'd tried to call out to me. The heavy metal doors shut behind me an we were enveloped in darkness. "Idiots." I muttered under my breath. They'd forgotten to tie me up- not that I was complaining of course.

"Ca-" Jade tried to talk through the mouth gag. I shuffled over to her and removed it. "What the hell was that?!"

"I'll explain later." I sighed, removing Tori and Robbie's gags. "I can't untie you-" I said "-they'll just tie you up again when we get to where we're going, and you'll probably get punished for taking them off."

"Why the fuck are you so calm?" Jade spat, I looked around at the other around us, fear stricken expressions on their faces. "And answer my question!"

"Fine." I sighed, I may as well tell them the truth. "Long story short, I'm a part of the Mafia."

"THE MAFIA?!" Andre yelled suddenly. "This is some crazy chiz Cat, you've gotta be lying."

"Does this look like a lie?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The van suddenly guttered into motion, making us all stumbled slightly.

"What do they want with you?" Tori spoke up.

"They're part of an opposing 'family'." I explained. "And, I guess they're trying to use me as ransom."

"Why'd they want us then?" Beck gulped.

"Multiple reasons." I shrugged nonchalant. My father's taught me about every form of kidnapping or abduction, why gangs do specific things. Why my family does these things too. "Firstly, you saw their faces and could call the police, they might have let you go if you ran when I told you."

"There was no way we'd have left you alone Cat." Tori spoke up.

"Or- "I continued. "-they're going to use you to get to me." I gulped at this, before answering what Tori said. "I could have taken them down, I did have a gun."

"Why _did_ you have a gun?" Jade asked. "And how the hell do you know how to use it?"

"Did you hear me saying 'I'm a part of the mafia?" I snapped back, finally able to show my true colours and retort the way she had done to me for years.

"Of course I did." She grumbled. "You can't be that far into it though, right?"

"You have no idea." I chuckled to myself, slightly wincing in the pain that was spreading across my face. I slowly raised my hand to the sore spot and dabbed the cuff of my sleeve against my left cheekbone. "That's gonna leave a bruise."

"Don't change the subject." Jade said roughly. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

"Firstly, you can't really use that tone on me anymore Jade." I replied, my voice deeper than normal. "Now you know the real me, I don't need to put on that stupid hyperactive facade and I'm going to act like the real me, tougher."

"Like you can be tough." Jade rolled her eyes.

"Do you want me to put the mouth gag back?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't dare." Jade replied equally harshly.

"Jade-" I shook my head. "-I could choke you to death with that thing. With one hand behind my back. Don't test me."

Her eyes widened momentarily at the serious look I was giving her, before she relaxed and morphed her reaction into a sly smirk. "I think I like this new Cat."

"So..." Robbie interrupted awkwardly. "Can you explain all this to us?"

"I guess." I sighed. "There are 5 Mafia Crime families in America..." I began the long story of explanation. Hopefully this would distract us all from our impending doom.


	3. Chapter 3

Jade POV

I've gotta admit, I'm impressed. Out of all the people I know, Cat Valentine is by far the least-likely to be the heir to a mafia legacy, but yet here we are in the back of a van being driven be her family's enemies.

I couldn't tell you how long we've been in this van, but it's been long enough for Vega to fall asleep. God only knows how she's managed to do that whilst tied up in such an awkward position in the back of a constantly jolting van. I guess I'd rather her be asleep than crying, which is what she was doing before she shut her eyes, Robbie on the other hand still is crying. Beck and Andre are trying to comfort him, but their attempt is pitiful without the use of their arms of legs. "Could you at least untie my hands Cat?" Beck grumbled, trying to wiggle loose.

"I could if you want your hands to be cut off by the Reatos once they discovered you've gotten free." She said harshly, trying to focus on pushing open the lock on the back of the van. "Aha!" She announced as the lock came loose.

"Why are you even trying to do that?" Jade grumbled. "Its not like any of us can climb out or anything, especially while we're moving."

"Even if we were able to, they'd see us escape. In any well-organised kidnapping there is a car driving behind the van to see if the victims try to leave." She stated as if it were common knowledge.

"Then what's the point in opening the door?" Robbie sniffled through his tears of fear.

"If I crack it open slightly-" She emphasized what she was saying through the action of actually doing it, shuffling right against the wall to that the door wasn't noticeably open. "-I can see where we are, which would be pretty helpful in case we find a phone."

"Obviously." I rolled my eyes, pretending that I new exactly what was happening.

"So where are we?" Beck asked Cat.

"According to that road sign, we're in Nevada near Los Vegas." She replied, closing the van door again.

"Why would they take us here?" Robbie spoke up.

"I don't know..." Her voice faded as she talked, before her eyes suddenly lit up with realisation. "Because no Mafia family has territory here! This must be where their hideout is! My family's been trying to work this out for weeks and I just cracked it!"

I felt myself go numb as she talked about the lack of knowledge her family had. "If they don't know where it is... then how will be find us?"

"Phoe." Cat muttered to herself. Of course that even now we know she's a Mafia heir, she'd still use her childish vocabulary.

* * *

After about another 15 minutes, the van pulled to a halt and the engine turned off. Cat rushed over to me and re-applied my mouth gag, along with Robbie and Tori's, waking up the half-Latina in the process. I really didn't understand why she made us keep them on until the door opened and one of the men glared daggers at Cat.

"Thought you'd take off your ties Valentine?!" He yelled. "Firstly, you shot Michael, and now this? We'll teach you how to act."

"She never had ties on!" Beck defended.

"Yeah right, Pretty Boy." A second man spat at him. "Come on, all out." When we all stayed perfectly still, one of the men climbed straight into the van and grabbed Tori, roughly pulling her out of the van.

"Ugh." She moaned through the mouth cover as her body collided with the ground outside the van, still not full awake yet.

Cat climbed out next on her own, no one needed to drag her as she complied, but that didn't stop one of the men from violently grabbing her arms and snapping them behind her back. "This is what you get when you break the binds." He spat. The discomfort it's Cat's face was obvious as the man twisted her arms in a way which they should have snapped, thank God for her hyper-mobility.

Whilst Cat was being secured, the men pulled the rest of us out if the van, dragging us along the building due to our legs being tied together. Taking a leaf out of Cat's book, I decided it was better to be aware and compliant, trying to remember every detail of the place we were being kept.

When we got out of the van, we were already inside a building so I couldn't get any perspective of the outside world, however it seemed like it was a decently large place. At the end of the garage were two doors door, and we were all roughly dragged through one and down a set of rough stone stairs on the other side.

The stairs lead us down to a long dank hallway with a distinct smell of mould and cigarettes, if I had the ability to use my hands, I'd be covering my nose. The walls were barely an arms length apart, with a ceiling barely 6ft high. A wicked draft reduced the temperature to near freezing and I felt myself involuntarily shiver. Along each side of the dimly lit corridor were metal bolted doors, some with small movable slits like the ones you'd see in Solitary Confinement inside a prison.

The men pulled opened one of the doors, one by one chucking us into the room, not caring how roughly we landed. I quickly sat up to scout my new surroundings. A hollow cube of concrete, one way in, no windows. In there you could have no idea how much time had passed or even if it was night or day. It was totally disorientating by design. Given enough time a person could forget their own name in there. The isolation was total and the stimulation was near zero. Clearly they didn't want us to go totally insane, as there was a small bulb hanging loosely from the ceiling, in theory it could be smashed and used as a weapon, but that would come at the risk of loosing the only thing allowing us to see so no one would be dumb enough to jeopardize that. In the corner was a metal toilet and sink along with a few rolls of paper, similar to one found in an old prison cell, no privacy but that really didn't matter. Across the room from it was a bed, well more like a plank of wood on legs, there was no mattress, no cushioning and only one thin blanket.

"We'll leave you to get your binds off." One of the men chuckled, slamming shut the metal door and quickly locking it, leaving us trapped inside.

"Cat, you can do it now right?" Beck spoke up, looking around the room for the small girl. "Cat?"

"Where is she?!" Andre spoke up.

I looked frantically around the room for the red-head, trying to call out for her also, despite my mouth gag. Whilst I was trying to work out where we were, I must have missed them taking Cat away.

"She warned us..." Beck mumbled. "That if we take off our binds in the van we'd get hurt-"

"-and they thought she took hers off." Andre finished, gulping at the end of his sentence.

A sudden sob caught my ears, and I looked over to Vega, expecting the sound to be coming from here. However when there were no tears in sight, I realised the noise came from me. My eyes dripped with tears. My walls, the walls that hold me up, make me strong just... collapsed. Moment by moment, they fell. Salty drops fell from my chin, drenching the mouth gag and my shirt. I was trembling. I couldn't stop. It was raw, everything, raw tears, raw emotions. I couldn't stop... I couldn't stop. Why couldn't I not stop crying?

Beck shuffled over to me, his hands and legs still tied together. "She'll be okay Babe." He tried to comfort me. "She's strong."

I started to calm down at the sound of his voice. My breathing rate slowly returning to normal. In. Out. In. Out. Everyone around me was in silence, watching my recovery. In. Out. In. Out. Just breathe. "She's strong." I mentally repeated Beck words of comfort to myself.

In... out... in... out. That's it, I've got this breathing thing back again. But with all good things, something always ruins it. A blood curdling scream echoed from outside the room. It sounded like a scream of wild panic. A scream of hysteria and disbelief, bordering on terror. It made the hair strand straight up on the back of my neck. It was the loudest most piercing scream I had ever heard. The blood drained from my face and adrenaline surged through my veins. Before I was even aware of making a conscious decision, my arms were snapped out to my sides. I'd just broken the zip-tie. I don't remember how, but my hands were free and only slightly bleeding from the friction. I pulled off the gag and jumped to my feet, hobbling over to the metal door and started slamming my hands violently into it. "STOP HURTING HER!" I called out. "CAT!" The door was solid metal. Nothing was going to budge it. The surface was flat and shiny like the outside of a stainless steel refrigerator. There was no handle, no lock, no hinges, nothing to get a grip on. The top and bottom, even the sides, lay so utterly flush with the frame that there was no hope of pulling it open even if we had a crowbar, but we had nothing of the sort.

A few moments of silence followed, the wait more mentally draining then her screaming. At least then we knew she was still alive. I continued to pound my hands into the door, I knew I was wasting energy but it was all I could do. "CAT!" I called out periodically. "Please!"

Suddenly, the door suddenly re-opened, sending me flying backwards onto my butt. My eye's met the man who'd opened it as he launched Cat into the room. She fell face-first into the room, clutching her left arm. "Ah." She whimpered as her body fell.

"Have fun." The man said evilly, slamming the door shut and re-locking it.

"Cat!" Andre said, rushing towards her a the same time as me. "W...what happened?!"

"My shoulder." She said though clenched teeth, holding her shoulder with her left hand. "They... they dislocated it." Tears started to flow down her cheeks as I helped her sit upright. (**A/N I'm literally writing this with a dislocated shoulder. Typing hurts, everything hurts. Don't do sports kids. xD**)

"It's okay." I tried to comfort her. "Let me have a look a it."

Reluctantly, Cat removed her right hand from covering her left shoulder. I had to hide my gagging as I saw her arm hanging loosely out of it's socket, swinging by her side. "How did they even do that?" Andre gasped, hobbling over towards us.

Cat looked up at us properly and I could see the bruise on her face starting to swell and form into a black/blue colour. There were scratched too, presumably from the floor. Her eyes had frozen over like the surface of a winter puddle, robbing them of their usual warmth. She was in there, I knew it, but it's like the pain was dominating her body it's fiery bursts pulsating through her. "They..." She started to wipe away her tears and clearing all expression and emotion from her face, like an indestructible mask. "They threw me to the ground in a room, across the halfway from this one-" the way she talked made it seem as if she hadn't been crying seconds prior, clear and robotic like -"then one man put his foot on my back, between my shoulder blades." She paused momentarily to keep her composure. "He started yelling things, I don't know what, and then grabbed my left arm and started pulling it back, while putting more pressure on my back. Until... well it just came out and I think I screamed-"

"You did." Beck said, his face pale as he mentally picture the image. "Cat... that's... oh my god." He gagged as he talked.

"Either way, I need to put this back in." She cringed, motioning to her still hanging arm.

"H... how?" I asked.

"The only way you can I guess." She sighed, placing her right hand on the elbow on her left hand and violently shoving upwards. There were a few moments of silence, followed by another one of Cat's blood curdling screams. We can never truly feel another's pain, but that scream of Cat's came close. It was the kind of scream that puts every other thought on hold and roots everyone close in the very same agony. A very pained expression covered Cat's face as her body tried to cope with the pain. I rushed forward and enveloped the smaller girl into a hug, careful to not touch her already damaged arm. "Lucky I know... how to... do that." She joked through clenched teeth, her pain filled tears spilling onto the shoulder of my shirt.


	4. Chapter 4

Tori POV

The sound of Cat's scream is something that I think will haunt me forever, along with the sight of her dislodged shoulder. But I think the tears of pain from her while breaking down into Jade's arms were by far the worst. Considering the consequences, I'm surprised it took her this long to react. Since leaving Nozu's she's gotten into a shoot out, fight, been kidnapped, and tortured to the point of her shoulder being dislocated. Robbie and I have gone through less than this and we've already both cried, makes me feel kind of weak.

On the other hand, Cat's been 'trained' all her life for this. She started telling us stories over how her father and uncle taught her ways to defend herself, make weapons out of everything and get out of all sorts of constrictions. Which is how she got those stupid zip-ties, ropes and gags off of me. Finally being able to talk properly was a relief, but the use of my limbs was the most important thing. Cat promised that in the morning she'd try to teach us anything that would come in helpful. That's if we're still alive by morning. Cat says we should be, as 'hostages are only worth anything alive'. I'm not sure if that's comforting or not. For the sake of my sanity I'm pretending it is.

Currently, I'm trying to sleep on the floor of this cold, isolated prison, but there's way too much on my mind. There is something disturbing about this concrete box I'm in. It's almost like it has been engineered with absolute precision. The corners are sharp and straight, the walls of a solid drab grey. Apparently taking our freedom in't enough, keeping us from those we love isn't enough. This place is designed to take so much more than that. This room is designed for someone to go insane. There is nothing in here besides us, a rusted toilet and an empty wooden bed frame that could barely be regarded as 'bedding'. The thin blanket which once laid atop it has been allocated to Cat, as she is using her hoodie as a make-shift sling, rather than covering herself in it like the rest of us are with our own.

"Robbie?" I heard Jade whisper-speak from across the room to the curly-haired. "Stop breathing so loud."

"There's dust." He snapped back angrily. "And unless you have an inhaler-"

"Oh shut it, I'm trying to sleep." Andre cut in, we were all getting pretty bitter because of the situation.

"Are we all awake?" Beck added, sitting upright.

"I don't know about Vega and Cat." Jade replied, sitting up also.

"I'm up." I replied, mid yawn.

"Me too." Cat replied through clenched teeth, the pain from her arm still throbbing through her.

"Clearly none of us are gonna sleep anytime soon." Jade pointed out.

"Wanna sing?" Andre offered. We all looked at him quizzically for a moment, before our expressions softened, music was our sanctuary and what got us through hardships. It's the rhythm of my soul. It flows through your veins and swirls in your head. It makes your fingers drum and your feet tap. It transcends the everyday monotony to make each fresh morning a new journey of sounds.

My voice is my instrument and I can't live a single day without singing. To me music is life and life is music. It's in everything I see. It's in the air I breathe. It's in my DNA. And I know it's the same for the others. "What song?" I asked.

"Nothing too happy." Cat spoke up. "I mean I'm all for optimism, but right now a happy song wouldn't really fit."

"Agreed." Jade spoke up. "I've got an idea. Anyone hear the song 'Head Above Water?'"

"By Avril Lavigne?" Cat asked. Momentarily, I was shocked she knew of such a sad song, before quickly remembering that Cat wasn't the same Cat I've always known.

"Yeah." Jade nodded.

It turned out, only the girls knew the song, so we decided to pass the time with a sing-off kinda thing. Boys Vs Girls. We'd sing a song, and then the boys would sing. The battle was on.

* * *

(_A/N To really get into this, I'd advice listening to the songs and following along the lyrics while reading.)_

**(Song: Head Above Water, by Avril Lavigne.)**

Jade started off the song, her ability to match any genre and tone completely setting the dark mood of the song, as if the drab room wasn't already enough atmosphere.

**Jade: **"_I've gotta keep the calm before the storm_

_I don't want less, I don't want more_

_Must bar the windows and the doors_

_To keep me safe, to keep me warm_

**Tori and Jade: **_Yeah, my life is what I'm fighting for_

_Can't part the sea, can't reach the shore_

_And my voice becomes the driving force_

_I won't let this pull me overboard_

**All Girls: **_God_,_ keep my head above water."_

* * *

Jade and I continued to pelt out at the regular pitch level, while Cat used her higher range to harmonise above us, something the boys definitely wouldn't be able to do when it came to their song. Our voices blended so perfectly, apparently the room was good for one thing, it had pretty good acoustics.

* * *

_"Don't let me drown, it gets harder_

_I'll meet you there at the altar_

_As I fall down to my knees."_

* * *

Our voices rolled over the hills in sorrowful waves. Swells of power rose up in our throats. I couldn't even tell if it was words that came from us or the haunting feeling of knowing that our voices brought out the rage and pain of our situation.

* * *

**Jade:** "_Don't let me drown,_ **Cat and Tori: **_drown_,_ drown_

**Jade: **_Don't let me, _ **Cat and Tori: **_don't let me, don't let me drown_

**Jade: **_So pull me up from down below_

_'Cause I'm underneath the undertow_

**Jade and Tori: **_Come dry me off and hold me close_

_I need you now, I need you most_

**All ****Girls: **_God, keep my head above water_

_Don't let me drown, it gets harder_

_I'll meet you there at the altar_

_As I fall down to my knees_

**Jade:** _Don't let me drown, _**Cat and Tori: **_drown, drown_

**Jade: **_Don't let me, _**Cat and Tori: **_don't let me, don't let me drown_

**Jade: **_Don't let me drown, _**Cat and Tori:**_ drown, drown_

**Cat and Tori: **_Keep my head above water, above water_

**Jade: **_And I can't see in the stormy weather_

**Jade and Tori: **_I can't seem to keep it all together_

**All ****Girls: **_And I, I can't swim the ocean like this forever_

**Jade: **_And I can't breathe_

**Cat: **_God, keep my head above water_

**All ****Girls:**_I lose my breath _**Cat: **_at the bottom_

**All ****Girls:**_Come rescue me, _**Cat: **_I'll be waiting_

**Jade: **_I'm too young to fall asleep_

_God, keep my head above water_

_Don't let me drown, it gets harder _

_I'll meet you there at the altar _

_As I fall down to my knees_

**Cat: **_Don't let me drown_

**Cat: **_Don't let me drown _**Jade and Tori:**_(don't let me, don't let me, don't let me drown)_

**Cat: **_Don't let me drown _**Jade and Tori: **_(don't let me, don't let me, don't let me drown)_

**Cat: **_Keep my head above water, above water."_

* * *

Cat's hand went to her heart and her head rose as she belted out the final notes, pulling it out for much longer than the original song.

"Well played girls." Andre applauded. "I think we can beat that." He smirked, nodding to the boys.

"A...are you sure?" Robbie asked nervously.

"Of course." Andre replied cockily. "Every heard of Waves By Dean Lewis?"

"I think so." Beck spoke up.

* * *

**(Song: Waves, by Dean Lewis.)**

**Andre:**_"There is a swelling storm_

_And I'm caught up in the middle of it all_

_And it takes control_

_Of the person that I thought I was_

_The boy I used to know"_

* * *

His voice was smooth and clear and quiet yet powerful. Soothing, in a way. I know you don't really call a guy's voice beautiful, but his was. It was the promise of tomorrow. It was beautiful, and I wished that he would never stop.

* * *

**Robbie: **"_But there, is a light_

_In the dark, and I feel its warmth_

_In my hands, and my heart_

**Beck and Robbie: **Why_ can't I hold on?_

**Beck: **_It comes and goes in waves_

_It always does, it always does"_

* * *

Neither Beck nor Robbie are quite as good at singing as Andre, but like anyone could keep up with such a musical prodigy. Either way they were still pretty decent, only a little rough.

* * *

**Andre:**_We watch as our young hearts fade_

_Into the flood, into the flood_

**All Boys: **_The freedom, of falling_

_A feeling I thought was set in stone_

_It slips through, my fingers_

_I'm trying hard to let go_

_It comes and goes in waves_

_It comes and goes in waves_

**Andre: **_And carries us away_

**Robbie:**_ Through the wind_

_Down to the place we used to lay when we were kids_

**Beck: **_Memories, of a stolen place_

_Caught in the silence _

_An echo lost in space_

**All Boys: **_It comes and goes in waves_

_It always does, it always does_

_We watch as our young hearts fade_

_Into the flood, _**Andre: **_into the flood_

**All Boys: **_The freedom, of falling_

_A feeling I thought was set in stone_

_It slips through, my fingers_

_I'm trying hard to let go_

_It comes and goes in waves_

_It comes and goes in waves_

_And carries us away_

**Beck and Robbie: **_I watched my wild youth_

_Disappear in front of my eyes_

_Moments of magic and wonder_

_It seems so hard to find_

**All Boys: **_Is it ever coming back again?_

_Is it ever coming back again?_

_Take me back to the feeling when_

_Everything was left to find_

**Andre: **_It comes and goes in waves_

_It always does, oh it always does_

**All Boys: **_The freedom, of falling_

_A feeling I thought was set in stone_

_It slips through, my fingers_

_I'm trying hard to let go_

_It comes and goes in waves_

_It comes and goes in waves_

**Andre: **_And carries us away."_


	5. Chapter 5

Carlo Reato. (The Reato Crime Family Leader/ Michael Reato's father.) POV.

The Next Morning

Today is a very, very good day. Why? Because we did it. Last night, we finally caught a hostage from the Gambino family, and a very valuable one at that, Catarina Valentine, the leader's daughter. The Gambino's have been our main rivals since they claimed LA for their own, trudging all over our territory, which is why we had to unite the gangs to take them down, with me in change of course. I was very proud of my son, Michael, when he returned back with the girl, though the rage I felt when he revealed she'd shot him in the shoulder was something to be wreckened with. Of course I had it seen too that Catarina had some equally harsh shoulder damage.

Speakign of Catarina, she is about 20ft below me in the basement of the Head Quarters, along with 5 of her friends. They could be useful for information, but above all we can torture them to make Valentine crack and spill everything she knows. Before we kill them, obviously. The pain will be a sweet, sweet form of revenge. Watching her break will signify the end of the Gambino rein, she won't return to her family, not in one piece at least. Victory is ours.

A knock on my office door interrupted my thoughts. "Come in." I replied quickly, ordering them in.

"Father." Michael nodded to me respectfully whilst walking into the room.

"How is your shoulder?" I asked, motioning to the bandaged up top of his arm, from the gun shot.

"Better." He replied, sitting in the chair opposite my desk.

"Revenge has already been ordered." I told him. "I hear Catarina is sporting a dislocation."

He simply smirked in reply. "What was your reason for calling me up here?" He asked.

"Straight to business then." I acknowledged "By now, the Gambinos would have noticed Catarina's absence and will presumably be on the hunt for her-"

"Do you want to send proof that we have her?" My son cut in.

"Be patient." I said to my Son. "We shall let them worry for a while before we show them we have her; just imagine the panic they will be in. Today, we'll start with questions, get what we need out of her. That doesn't mean we can't rough her up a little, but save the most of it for a few days time when we will send the Gambino's a picture of Catarina's state. Who knows, maybe in the future we'll send a finger, or a limb, but for now we'll start small."

"This is why you're the leader." Michael nodded.

"You'll learn in time Son." I replied. "For now, go and gather some food for the hostages. Nothing too much, but enough to keep them going for the day. We need them to survive, but not have enough strength to fight."

"I'll get right on that." Michael nodded once again and robotically stood up to leave the office.

"After they've eaten, we'll go visit them and have some fun." I told him as he walked out of the door. I knew he'd heard me as there was a small smirk on his lips as he left.

* * *

Robbie POV

1 loaf of bread and 2 bottles of water. That's all the food we'll be given today. That's 3 slices each and a 3rd of a water bottle for 24 hours. We all quickly scoffed ours down, apart from Cat who decided that after we'd eaten was a good time to inform us that eating it gradually would better conserve body energy. Anyway if I remember correctly from catering class a small amount of bread is less than 200 calories which is less 10 percent of the average male calorie intake per day-

"You're pulling that face you do when you're doing math." Cat pointed out, cutting off my mathematical though process.

"I don't 'pull a face' when doing math." I replied.

"Where you or where you not doing math in your head?" She asked, tilting her head to the time in a puppy-like fashion. _Damn she's good at reading people now, well I guess she's always been good at it but before now she's been hiding it._

"I was." I sighed reluctantly. "I was working out how many more calor-"

"You're joking right?" Jade cut off, very sour about her situation.

"Let him be." Tori defended. "If it helps him to pass the time."

"Well maybe he should be using his head to find a way of finding more food or escaping-" Jade started yelling "-rather then reminding us of how shitty things are!"

"I don't see you helping." I mumbled under my breath." Usually I'd never even fathom talking back to Jade, but I think the lack of food was getting to me.

"What did you say?" Jade challenged.

"Shut up." Cat growled, rubbing her temples, focusing on the 2 half empty bottles of water. in front of her. "If you're so hungry, then eat mine." She pushed the 2 remaining slices of bread, wrapped within the plastic bread bag, towards us.

"No one's eating that except you." Beck cut in, pushing the bag back.

"Later." Cat replied stubbornly. "It'll be better for-"

"No one cares!" Jade groaned. "I just want you all to shut up!"

"Cover your ears then." Cat rolled her eyes, refocusing her attention to the bottles of water.

"What you thinking about Lil' Red?" Andre asked.

"The plastic of the bottles." Cat replied simply.

"Why?" Beck added.

"I can make it into a projectile." Cat replied nonchalant.

"What, by throwing it?" Tori said dumbly.

"No. I'm not quite sure how it works, air pressure I think, but if you squeeze and twist and empty water bottle and then slowly untwist the lid, the cap shoots of at such an intense speed that it could hit someone in the temple and knock them out." Cat said darkly.

"Your mind works in mysterious ways." Jade commented, suddenly interested in the conversational topic. "Anything else in here that could work as a weapon?"

"The bed frame-" Cat started to list. "-could be used as various batons. And bread bag could suffocate someone, but your hands do that pretty well already." The rest of us suddenly fell into silence after she finished talking as no one was really used to this new Cat yet. "Were none of you thinking about that too?" She continued.

"Not even I was." Jade admitted.

"Huh, guess I'm the violent one now." Cat smirked slightly, watching Jade's expression drop slightly. "I'm kidding." She joked.

"Don't ever joke about that or I'll-"

"Attack me with your scissors?" Cat giggled childishly, not very fitting for the situation. "I have 5 guns, a black belt in karate, and know all your pressure points. I'd like to see you try Jade"

"No need to show off." Jade pouted, knowing she'd been beaten.

"I like this new Cat." Tori cut in, chuckling to herself.

"I'm not afraid to attack _you_ Vega." Jade snapped.

"Caaaat. Protect meeee." Tori wined jokingly, mocking Jade.

"Glad to see you're having fun." A deep voice cut in, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Simultaneously, all our heads snapped towards the door to where two men stood. One had his arm strapped up, so I immediately recognised him at Michael Reato, the man Cat shot the day before, but I had no idea who the other was. He had the swagger of someone I didn't even want to lock eyes with, let alone cross. His arms were more ink than skin and his blonde hair so closely cropped that at first I had mistaken him for being bald.

"You ever heard of knocking?" Cat rolled her eyes, seemingly not scared at all, like the rest of us so clearly were. "You know, that thing you do when walking into a room."

"Do you know who you're talking to?" The unknown man was.

"Yes." Cat replied simply. "Carlo Reato, the conductor of this shit show."

After what Cat told us last night, Carlo was Michael's Father and the leader of the Reato family, and someone none of us should mess with. Cat on the other hand said to let her do her thing and wind them up a little, for revenge sake and all. To quote her 'For this kidnapping to work, they need me alive so at most they'll cut off a limb. I can do without a leg but you all need your heads.' which is the darkest thing I think I've ever heard, and made me feel very disposable, but she did have a point and I'd like to keep my head attached to my neck.

Despite the possibility fatal consequences, Cat's sass made my face go red as I tried to hold back a laugh, and the corners of my mouth turn upwards slightly. Michael caught onto this and defended his father quickly, stepping forward "Say that again you... you _cagna_!" That last word was definitely not English, maybe Italian, either way it was an insult I'm sure.

"Oh I'm so scared." Cat said sarcastically, laughed to herself, slowly standing to her feet.

No one else was laughing though, as Michael pulled out his knife. At first I thought Cat hadn't noticed, but she had, and was just ignoring it. "Chi ti credi di essere? (_Who do you think you are?) _Insulting a Reato like that? Someone needs to teach you some manners." He said, walking forwards.

"Michael." Carlo said calmly, placing a hand on his son's shoulder, stopping him. "Let's not loose our tempers now shall we?"

"Yes father." Michael replied, placing the knife back into his pocket.

"Come, Catarina." Carol said, addressing Cat directly. "I'm sure you know what we want. Come." He motioned towards the door.

"Why the hell would she go anywhere with you?" Jade cut in, standing in front of Cat protectively.

"Jade." Cat whispered. "I've got this."

"No." Jade replied. "You need to stop being the hero Cat, someone else needs to stand up for once."

"Listen Girl-" Michael started addressing Jade. "-this has nothing to do with you."

"Then why the fuck am I here?!" Jade yelled.

I could even see Cat tensing, Jade was doing exactly what she'd been told not to, she was winding up the Reato's. Oh God.

"Fine." Carlo spoke up. "You come too. We'll show you why you're needed."

"NO!" Cat basically yelled. Until now she had been relatively calm, but as soon as Jade was in the line of danger, all composure was lost. "No, I'll go with you. Leave Jade." Cat started to plea.

"Both of you." Carlo said stubbornly. "Unless you want me to damage more than just your shoulder, Valentine."

Cat and Jade exchanged very worried looks as the two men lead them out of the room. It was clear that neither girl wanted to leave, but they knew fighting back had no point to it. It took all my willpower to not jump up and run after them... but that too would be useless. I was useless. And I felt guilty for it. A guilt that started to burn like gasoline in my guts. My insides died slowly in the toxicity, needing no more than a spark to set it ablaze.

As the metal door locked behind them, I looked to Beck, Tori and Andre, who like me had been deathly silent through the whole ideal. The blazing guilt was spreading between us, the flame growing larger and larger. I could just about make out tears welling up in Beck's eyes. "I... I just let my girlfriend get taken away... I did nothing." He said, his voice barely audible. "What kind of boyfriend am I?"

"You did what was best." Tori tried to comfort. "You'd have been taken too if you tried to protect her."

"Well maybe I should have!" Beck yelled suddenly. "I'd at least know what is happening to her right now!"

* * *

No POV, with the girls

The clicking of the metal door signified Jade and Cat's potential doom. The two Reato men grabbed the back of their shirt's and roughly pushed them into another room, directly opposite the one which held their friends captive. Cat instantly recognised this room as the place her arm had been dislocated the night before. This concrete box was barely a 2 metre square, with walls of the same thick grey stone as the other. The isolation was total and the stimulation was zero. No sound, no light, no furniture or cloth of any kind. If left alone in there, all someone could do to feel the cool walls, but even they held no sense of personality.

The girls were thrown into opposite corners of the chamber. Cat landed square on her damaged shoulder, resulting in a small squeal of pain emerging from the red-head's lips, her face closed in a grimace. Michael and Carol turned their attention to Jade, whom had a fear-strengthen look on her face, trying to push herself backwards into the wall, seemingly trying to fall through it to escape. The younger Reato reached down and shoved her hands backwards into the wall, ignoring her screams and yells. Something sharp and cold dug into her skin. She looked up and saw there were handcuffs holding her hands to 2 small clasps bolted into the wall. She was helpless. Trapped. Vulnerable. But over all scared. So, so scared.

Her mind was starting to fail, like an engine that turned over and over, never kicking into action. She couldn't formulate a thought. Every action could lead to an even more problematic path and there was no way out of this room. No way out. She tried to move her arms, no luck. She glanced at the floor, no trap door. Her eyes went to the walls, no windows, the door locked. She breathed. There was no way out. Expecting the worst, she clamped her eyes shut. However, nothing came. Slowly she reopened her ice-blue eyes, looking for the Reato's smirking faces to be standing over her, but she quickly realised they'd moved on and focused their attention back towards Cat.

Carlo roughly pulled Cat off of the ground, grasping his hands around her damaged arm. "AH!" Cat yelled out involuntarily. Her eyes had frozen over once again. "We can either do this the easy way-" Carlo began, talking directly to Cat "-or the hard way."

* * *

Cat POV

He knew he was hurting me, pulling roughly on my sore arm. Searing fiery bursts pulsated around the injury, intensifying with each movement, jarring and brutal. I swallowed harshly, pushing the pain away into a distant part of my body, and locked eyes with Carol. "A fanabla _(Go to Hell)."_ I spat, flexing my Italian again.

"Attento a come parli _(Watch your mouth)._" Michael growled, I could tell I was getting to him but his father was harder to crack.

"Be sensible Valentine." Carlo instructed, releasing his vice-like grip on my shoulder. I stumbled back slightly but still stood tall, well as tall as my 5ft frame allowed me to. "I'll start by asking a simple question: Where is the Gambino Head Quarters?"

I knew they'd want information from me, but they'd taken the wrong person. "I'll never tell my family secrets." I said bluntly.

"How about now?" Michael asked, pulling the small knife out of his pocket. I could hear Jade scream for me to 'Just tell them' from the other side of the room.

I held my arm out in front of my, my wrist facing him. "Go on then." I encouraged. "Kill me and then try to get your information."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that Catarina." Carlo said, pushing my arms back down. I smirked, knowing that I had won. "But it would be a shame if you had to loose a finger. So I'll ask again, where is your family HQ?"

"I'll never say." I sneered, but before the last syllable had even fully left my lips, Michael's hand cracked across my face, snapping it back with the force of his blow and causing my head to reel sickeningly as it slammed into the stone wall behind me. The slap was as loud as a clap which stung my face. It had been an open-handed smack and I could tell that just below my eye was a small cut where one of his large rings ring had caught my skin, but the impact into the wall was what hurt the most.

"How about you tell us now?" Michael yelled.

"N...no." I slurred back, blinking back the flashing colorful spots, craving darkness, quite and stillness. Pain throbbed so violently around my skull that I wondered why it didn't just crack open.

"Tell us!" he yelled again, pushing me backwards into the wall.

It took quite a few moments for the blinding dots to quit covering my vision, but when they did I could see the that the two Reato men had seemingly lost interest in me, and were instead looking across the room to where Jade was. "If she won't crack, then maybe we could try her friend." I heard Carlo whisper to himself.

"No!" I yelled suddenly, there as no way I would drag Jade down into this.

"Then tell us." Michael said to me.

I was stuck in a dilemma. Save Jade and tell my one of my family's most held secrets, or spill everything so they don't touch her. "I... I can't." I stuttered, looking away from where I could see Jade in the corner of the room, tied to the wall. "I'm sorry Jade."

"Your choice." Carlo smirked, quickly grabbing my sore arm and cuffing me to a wall clasp that I didn't notice until now. I tried to struggle free from his grasp as he closed the metal over my arm, but every time I moved he just made it tighter and tighter until the cuff was making my wrist bleed. Unlike Jade, my wall restraints were high off of the ground, my arms were above my head, holding me just over 5ft off of the ground, I knew this because my feet barely reached the floor, leaving me hanging there. Which would be uncomfortable for anyone, but it's made 100 times worse when one of your shoulders is recently dislocated.

There isn't a person alive who doesn't fear being trapped, confined, unable to escape. There is always a fire in our hearts burning for the open air, freedom, the ability to move in any way we wish. Claustrophobia isn't rare, it's ubiquitous, it's just a matter of the degree you feel it. As Carlo locked my other hand to the wall my mind searched for ways to escape with all the methodology of a bouncing ball. My stomach lurched, adrenaline pumped and I wanted to scream to let out all the fear that was building inside me . I wanted to scream so loud it became not a cry of fear but a roar of one who has been forged stronger by life's challenges.

* * *

Jade POV

I jerked forward, panicked, but my wrists refused to move. The handcuffs were holding my them still to the wall. The two men continued to walk towards me, each step making my panic worse like a cluster of spark plugs in my abdomen. In the distance I could hear Cat calling out, saying that she was sorry from across the room, her voice just sounded distant as my focus was elsewhere. "I... I don't know anything." I stuttered, trying to push my body further back into the wall.

"We know." The son, Michael, said to me. He reached towards me and I swore that he was going to hurt me, but instead I felt the clasp of the cuffs break. My wrists were free, but I had no time to celebrate this tiny victory as moments later I was pulled to my feet my the neck of my shirt and slammed backwards into the wall. A numbing spike of pain shot up my spine as it collided with the cold brick, and I felt the air leave my lungs.

"Figlio di puttana!" Cat yelled from across the room, directed at Michael. It was something in Italian, and therefore I couldn't translate it, but I bet it was something along the lines of '_Son of a bitch!' _because that's what I'd be calling him.

"Got anything to say yet Valentine?" Carlo said to Cat. I could see her pause and slowly shake her head, looking away from me with her teary eyes. "Go on then Michael." Carlo continued.

In the blink of an eye, the younger Reato wrapped his large hands around my throat and squeezed. He raised me off the ground. I kicked and squirmed, but it was no breaths came in gasps and I felt like I would black out. My heart was hammering inside my chest like it belonged to a rabbit running for its skin. The room spun and I tried to make everything slow to something my brain and body can cope with. My head was pounding, every cell in my body was screaming for oxygen. I kept fighting until I felt like my head was about to explode, I had to take a breath. Just as my vision went blurry, Cat yelled something out, and Michael dropped me to the ground. I don't recall what Cat said, but it made him and Carlo smirked to each other while I sat panting for breath. In, out. In, out. Breathe. In, out. In, out. Breathe.

In the distance I could faintly make out the noise of talking. It didn't take Einstein to work out who it was. "Good Girl Catarina." Carlo said patronisingly to Cat, standing over her as she tried to struggle against her restraints. "If we find out you're lying, then we'll kill her."

"I'LL KILL YOU BEFORE THAT EVER HAPPENS!" Cat screamed, trying to fight against the cuffs.

"Have fun doing that while locked up." Carlo replied. "Now we have business to do, attacks to plan." He smirked, clearly inferring that he was talking about the place name they'd just gotten out of Cat.

"YOU-" She tried to talk again when Carlo had clearly had enough of her, slamming his fist into her head and knocking it backwards into the wall.

"CAT!" I yelled out as her head rocked forward to her chest, hanging there in her unconscious stated. My voice was raw and sore from the strangling, but still powerful.

"Count yourself lucky." Michael spoke directly to me. "Next time, we'll do worse, now we know she'll crack after watching you in pain."

"Come on. Let's put her back with the rest." Carlo replied. I felt my body get lifted up into his arms, I obviously could have fought back but they were taking me back to the others so there was no point at all.

It wasn't until I was thrown on the floor beside Beck and hear the metal door close behind me, that I realised Cat was still in the other room, unconscious and hanging there. Ignoring the other's questions, I scrambled to my feet and started pounding my fists into the door. "CAT!" I yelled, hoping for a response, my voice sill raw. "CAT PLEASE!"

Before I even noticed that Beck was beside me, he spun my body around me pulled my head to his chest. Running his hand through my dark hair, the first sob escaped my lips. "They... they... Cat."

* * *

Tori POV

She sobbed into Beck's chest unceasingly, hands clutching at his shirt. He held her in silence, rocking her slowly as her tears soaked his chest. A tiny lapse let her pull away, blinking lashes heavy with tears, before she collapsed again, her howls of misery worsening. The pain must have come in waves, minutes of sobbing broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths, before hurling her back into the outstretched arms of her boyfriend.

Whatever happened to Jade and Cat must have been bad, and was potentially still happening to Cat. I missed the days of our bubbly 'Lil Red' who didn't have a care in the world. Now everything seems to be going wrong for her, and there's nothing we can do.

* * *

**(A/N I got so into writing this chapter. I just looked at the clock and realised I was meant to have left the house 10 minutes ago... crap.) **

**(A/N 2 This is the longest chapter I've ever written... be proud... please.)**


	6. Chapter 6

Beck POV

It's been two days since we last saw or heard from Cat. Two days. None of us know what's happened to her, Jade said the last thing she saw was her being knocked out, hanging on a wall. At first I dreaded this meant she might be dead... but if that were true, then why would the rest of us still be here?

I hate not knowing. She's our Lil'Red, I should be protecting her. So far she's been protecting us though, and that's not how this should be working. It's not like we hadn't tried to get to her, when we were given our food yesterday, I ran at the man to try and get him to tell me something... all that resulted with was a strong punch to my stomach.

The physical purple bruise it caused is no where as painful as the mental one of grief and worry over Cat. That feels like a giant hole in your heart that makes you feel the need to wipe away any non-existent tears that you want to form but can't. The numbness and emptiness enveloped all of us, and we were engulfed by the deafening silence of the solid concrete room. I don't really think any of us have talked since Jade was thrown back into here in tears. The worry is like being hooked up to a cattle fence - not enough voltage to kill but sufficient to keep things uncomfortable. I guess that's the downside of knowing things are awry instead of living in blissful ignorance. But what is there to do other than breathe, wait and hope things figure themselves out?

None of us are doing very well at all. It's not just sadness that's controlling us, it's the complete numbing emotion that comes with it.

Robbie's eyes are more glassed over then the lenses that sit in front of them. Despite that, it's clear that he is the most hopeful for Cat's return. There's a small pile of bread in the corner of the room, neatly wrapped within it's bag, and half a bottle of water. "_That's Cat's food." _He'd say, no emotion in his voice. "_She'll eat it when she comes back." _And no matter how hungry any of us are, we respect what he says. That is Cat's food and she will be back to eat it.

Though right now... I'm worried that Tori might need it more. This lack of food is really taking a tole on her body, having the highest metabolism and being the skinniest, means that she's finding it harder to have enough energy to function, she currently laying near the door with her head on a makeshift pillow made of her jumper. It's not hard to see the hollow look in her face or the lack of meat on her bones. It's only been a few days and she's already looking rough. I dread to think how she's going to keep going.

Strangely enough, it's Jade who's been looking after her. I can't be sure, but I think Jade's been giving Tori some of her bread, she shouldn't be doing that 'cause she needs it too, but I'm too tired to argue against it. In fact, Jade and Tori have been constantly comforting each other, something that even a few days ago would have been less likely than seeing a flying pig. It's strange how something so utterly horrible can bring people together.

Andre's in a state of isolation. He's not been talking to anyone, just sitting in the corner, following Cat's instructions on how to make weapons. It's kinda scary how powerful his water-bottle blaster is, it could probably take someone's eye out if he aimed it right. He ripped off one of the bed-frame legs and started lightly carving a handle into it for a baton. I highly doubt we're going to use these weapons, but it's worth having them and it's keeping his mind occupied so it's worth it.

As for me, I'm kinda the same to be honest. Numb and conflicted. Conflicted between being here for Jade, and the others, or trying to find a way out of here to get to Cat. I mean I've obviously tried the latter, and because we're still in here, it obliviously didn't work. So right now I'm doing the former, sat against the wall with Jade's head rested on my shoulder, as close to cuddling we can get without making the other's uncomfortable.

"Beck?" I heard Jade whisper from beside me, instantly gaining all my attention.

"Yeah Babe?" I replied quickly, turning my head to look at her.

"Do... do you think Cat's okay?" She asked for the 15th time today, I could hear the shake in her voice as she spoke. I looked at her face and could see that her eyes were clamped shut, trying to mentally calm herself and picture a situation other than the one we were trapped in.

"I-" I started, before the clicking of an unlocking door echoed around the concrete box and I snapped my head towards it. The door's creaking noise brought a chill to my spine. It sounded like some dying animal, crying out its pain and sorrow with its last breath.

I recognised the guy who walked into the room, but it wasn't Carlo or Michael, so it was probably one of the guy's that jumped us. From his youthful look I could tell that he wasn't much older then me, but nevertheless already a lost soul with no morals. As he stepped further into the room, Andre, Robbie, Jade and I quickly jumped to our feet using all the energy our tired bodies had. I went forward to try and grab him, but when I saw the gun in his hand I quickly backed off. "You." He pointed the gun at Tori, who was still laid on the ground, asleep, unbeknown to the arrival of our captor. "Come with me." He growled, she was very obviously asleep, which begged the question who he was talking to, or maybe he just wasn't very smart.

Tori continued to lay still, and there was a sudden worry within me that she may not jut be asleep, but I quickly pushed that thought away and stood my ground. "No." I breathed out. "No, you can't take her!" I continued, a little louder this time.

"You wanna take her place then Pretty Boy?" He spat to me. "Because I really couldn't care less who I take."

I looked back at Jade, and the distant look in her eyes was predominant. She's already lost Cat, and I might be taken away too... but I couldn't let that be Tori's fate instead. I turned my neck to face the man. "Yes." I said bluntly.

"Then come on." He said, motioning with his gun for me to follow.

* * *

No POV, with Cat (A few moments before Beck's POV ended)

Her arms ached. No matter how she moved them, they were impossibly numb. Someone could cut them off and she wouldn't feel a thing. She was exhausted. There was no way to sleep standing upright. It had been two days. No food. No water. Her numb arms were one of the least of her problems, thought they were an irritant. She stood on her tiptoes, relieving the pressure on her arms from the metal cuffs. She jerked forward. If only those cuffs would break. She couldn't stand the dusty, mute space in the cell. She couldn't stand the bone-dry feeling in her mouth, how it ached when she tried swallowing. She couldn't stand her stomachaches, caused by pangs of hunger. A matter of fact, all she could do was stand.

When the metal door creaked open, a mix of relief and worry flooded her brain. There was finally someone in there with her, who would hopefully let her down... but maybe they'd just be there to hurt her again. "Hanging in there Valentine?" Michael joked as he and his father walked into the room.

"Been sitting on that one for however long I've been in here have you?" Cat growled, her voice rough from the lack of water she'd had.

"At least I can sit." Michael smirked at his slight pun.

"Michael." Carlo warned his son.

"So what do you two want?" Cat growled, trying to disguise her discomfort.

"You see, we have a raid soon-" Carlo began. "-you may know the place well."

"N...no." Cat cried out, her eyes wide with realisation. They were going to her family Head Quarters, the place she'd told them about a few days prior. The information they had so cruelly forced out of her.

"Yes." Carlo retorted. "We had men scout it out yesterday, and you weren't lying so your friend will be kept alive, for now."

"I hate you!" Cat yelled.

"Good." Michael smirked. "And, after today's raid, your family will hate you too. That's if they survive."

"STOP IT!" Cat screamed, trying to pull off the restraints but with little energy left in her weak body, all attempts were futile.

"We've only just started." Carlo smirked. The metal door opened again and a man walked in, pulling Beck by his shirt, which was strange as Beck was complying just fine. The man then shoved Beck into the room, making him stumble and fall to the ground. "Thank you, Spike." Carlo said to the man, who nodded in acknowledgement and walked out of the room in the same silence that he walked in with.

"Beck!" Cat called out to her friend who was currently making his way to his feet after being roughly sent crashing into the floor by Spike.

"CAT!" He called back, rushing towards the red-head.

The thunderous crack of a gunshot ripped through the air suddenly, shocking the boy into a halt. It barreled from Michael's gun and shot a few inches in front of Beck's head. "Don't go near her." He commanded Beck. The fear travelled in Beck's veins but never made it to his facial muscles or skin. His complexion remained matt, his eyes as steady as if he were walking through the hallway of HA. "Come here." Michael commanded again.

Slowly, Beck walked towards the two men, standing tall and masking his fear. But not before long, he was pushed to the floor and tied to the wall, where his Girlfriend had been constricted only a few days before. By this point his fear was starting to slip through the cracks of his facade, but he didn't fight back, knowing he wouldn't stand a chance against two men with a gun.

"We won't hurt you boy." Carlo said suddenly. Beck mentally questioned whether this was a trick, but either way he sighed with relief. "It's just we like to work with an audience."

* * *

Cat POV

I could see Beck's expression drop from across the room as realisation pooled into his eyes. This realisation turned into anger and the tension of his muscles, an inability to think clearly soon followed. The rational Beck was offline and the primitive Beck was in control. He started trashing and pulling against his restraints to try and get to me and protect me. But it was too late, we both knew what was going to happen now. They were going to hurt me.

"As you know, we are going to give your family a little 'visit'." Carlo said to me in a tone that couldn't be anymore patronising if he tried. "That gives us the perfect opportunity to leave something behind, specifically a picture of your state-"

"Which, soon, will not be as good as it is now." Michael finished.

"What, hanging from a wall for God knows how long, with no food or drink is a 'good' state?" I growled.

"In comparison to what we're going to do, then yes." Carlo said. He reached forward and unlocked my handcuffs.

The relief was luxury, my feet landed on the floor and the pressure was off of my wrists. But that wasn't what I needed to focus on in the moment, I should have been thinking about the two dangerous monsters in front of me. I couldn't show my fear, so I ordered my body to fall in line. Dropping my barrier would be a disaster, a show of weakness an inlet for the Reatos to surge through. Nothing in my face betrayed this fear, it was a mask of defiance and surety. Perfect. Then I started to carefully plan my next move.

In Italian culture, family is everything and you never insult one's ancestors. But if they were gonna beat me up, I may as well have gotten something in before hand. "Vaffanculo a chi t'è morto. (_Go fuck your dead family members.)" _**[A/N: Trust me, its one of those phrases that makes more sense in Italian]**

It was like something snapped within the two men and all composure was lost. Michael threw his body weight behind the fist that edged closer to my face, it hit my jaw with such force blood pooled into my mouth. Pain erupted from the point of impact. Carlo drew his fist back and it ploughed into my stomach, it was like hitting a train head on. My guts smashed together, blood vessels bursting. I repaid this by punching his jaw, my fist collided with all my body weight behind it. Though in my weakened state, I'll admit it was futile. I tried my hardest to stay on my feet, prove that I wasn't weak, but after two days of no movement, my muscles were refusing to co-operate. In the flash of an eye, Michael's hands were locked around my throat, ramming my frail body into the hard wall behind me. I desperately tried to pull his hands away, but his smirk just grew and the anger behind his eyes was predominant. My ribs heaved up and down but no benefit comes. Dizziness. I slump into the wall. The tightness in my throat was suffocating, literally. I gasped loudly, trying, fighting, for a breath of air. Nothing. Gasp. Nothing. Gasp. I needed oxygen.

I felt Michael release his hands from my throat and I very clumsy collapsed to the ground, trying to allow the oxygen through the pathway to my lungs. Carlo roughly kicked my side with his boot as I hit the cold floor and the battering continued. All I could do was continue to make my chest gently rise and sink with each shallow breath I drew in...

* * *

Beck POV

I was violently screaming Cat's name, in a weak attempt to keep her hanging in there. I couldn't tell if it was working or not, but it's all I could do while she laid on the ground, her face closed in a grimace, skin pale and clammy. The two men continued to punch, kick and torture her broken frame, not caring that she was barley conscious enough to feel it. Every few punches she would cry out, not like one of those guys in some movie being tortured, but worse. It had a raw quality, the realness of a person consumed by a pain that knew no end or limit. Then she would go quiet, just panting. I should have been there at her side, at least then she would have known I cared. But instead I watched helplessly, unable to bear it, trying to escape the constricting cuffs.

"CAT!" I cried out for the umpteenth time. I could feel my cheek getting wet with tears. I don't remember crying like that for the last few years of my life. Maybe it was something different from the emotions I'd felt my whole life. It didn't even remotely relate to anything I'd been through before- getting chained up and having people attack one of my friends. It didn't leave a scar on my skin, but on my heart. All I could do was stay there and hear her screams, I don't know if there is anything that can hurt me more than watching that much pain being inflicted.

I saw Michael lift up Cat's small frame and slam it down to the ground, there was a loud crack from her arm as it hit the stone and she cried out in pain again. "That's enough for today." Carlo said nonchalant, like he hadn't just beaten a teenage girl to near-death. "I don't think we'll get anything from her today now."

"One more thing." Michael said, pulling an old Polaroid camera out of his pocket and snapping a picture. He pulled the Polaroid out of the top and shook it in the air, smirking at the developing image. "Perfect."

"You're sick." I growled.

"We do try." Michael replied manically, unlocking my cuffs.

I instantly ran across the room and straight towards Cat, completely ignoring their past commands for me to 'not move'. "Cat! Cat!" I started calling out to her as I fell to my knees beside her body.

"B...Beck." She stuttered, her body laid on the ground, blood flowing from her mouth. She was in so much pain her complexion was ashen. Her natural golden skin had sunken in tone to something so lifeless it scared me just to look at her. Her eyes closed and she sucks herself into a deeper place to cope. All I could do was stroke her red hair and hold her hand. It barely seemed enough, yet I could see her body relax.

"Some of us have places to be." Michael spat, interrupting the moment. "Pick her up, or I will."

Slowly, I slid my hands underneath Cat's frail frame and lifted her off of the ground. I heard her gasp in pain as her body made contact with my hands and I had to stop myself from gagging as I felt one of her ribs move under my touch. I tried to be as gentle as possible while the Reato men hurried me out of the room and to the concrete container where my friends and girlfriend were held. As the metal door slammed behind me, everyone's eyes snapped towards be and Cat. "No..." Jade gasped as her eyes laid on Cat's frame. "CAT!"

I slowly lowered Cat to the ground and laid her on her back. She was quietly whimpering with each movement and tears were freely falling down her face, mixing with the blood from her mouth. She was well and truly broken by those men. We were all crowded around her; Andre, Robbie, Jade, Tori and I. Each of us looking down with guilt and despair, knowing there was nothing we could do but watch her suffer. No pain relief, no ice pack, not even anywhere soft to lay her.

* * *

Cat POV

The pain throbs in my guts, it's deep and warm, but not in a nice way. It feels like someone has their hand in there and are squeezing my organs as hard they can. I can only hold still and breathe, breathe slow and deep. There's blood flowing from places blood shouldn't be and my abdomen is sore and lumpy where it should be smooth. Every breath feels like a nail bomb exploding in my innards. If it wasn't for my friends I'd curl right up here on the floor and let it take me away to the next life, but I promised I'd get them out of this, so I have to hold on.

I slowly open my eyes and lock them with Tori's, who is sat beside me, her thumb rubbing circles over the back of my hand. Her eyes have that wide look, her bottom lip trembled and she fidgets beside me. Her eyes are walking from one injury to another, taking in the gore that littered my body. I can see the conflict already, between her wanting to be strong for me and the raw need to weep. "It's alright," I croak, "you can cry." It was all the permission she needed, as moments later her head was down into her hands, sobbing loudly.

Through blurred vision I see Jade wrap her arms around Tori's shaking body, pulling her around so that her head is buried into her shoulder. I can't even attempt to wrap my head around this before another spike of pain erupts through my aching body, my muscles feeling as though they have been flash-burned with acid from the inside - just sufficient to make them move like the living cells have been replaced by aging rubber bands, thick and twisted. "Cat?" I heard Robbie's voice, panicked, he must know something's wrong. "Cat?" He repeated, placing his hand on my side.

"Ah!" I gasped unintentionally as sharp pain erupted from where his hand laid, just below my chest. Quickly realising his mistake, he pulled his arms away, apologising profusely. Concerned by the pain, I tried to breathe heavily, pushing my lungs out and this time could not hold back the scream that accompanied the searing pain in my chest.

I tried moving and this time was knocked out due to the intensity of the pain.


	7. Chapter 7

Andre POV (The Next Day)

Zero. Nought. Zilch. Nothing. That's the amount of a reaction we've had from Cat since she fell unconscious. She hasn't opened her eyes. She hasn't talked. She hasn't even moved, apart from the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest as she takes each breath. That's what I'm focusing on. In any other situation, watching a girl's chest would be beyond creepy, it probably is now, but I don't care, I just need proof that she's still alive. She's lying in front of me in the corner of the room, and for some reason I can't seem to leave her side.

Since she was knocked out we've tried to work out all the damage those bastards did to her. There were a few obvious things such as: a punch to the jaw where there was now a very dark blue/purple bruise forming, matching the dark purple bruise lining her neck; a very obvious broken arm where the bone was practically sticking out through the skin, I gag just thinking about it; and purple welts are scattered across her abdomen like a disease, signalling broken ribs. The injuries under the surface are harder to spot: there has to be some internal bleeding, as her mouth was filled with blood when she first go back in here, but without medical help there's nothing we can do, and we can only hope it's sorted itself out; next is her lungs, with that many broken ribs, one may have punched a lung. All I can do is pray that she's okay.

I moved my eyes around her frail frame. Her lips were slightly perched open, but nothing but a small noise came out periodically. The sound they made was a relief, but nothing more than a relief. It would be foolish to call it comfort. She spoke nothing. She was becoming nothing. Her head was laid against a a small pile of our jumpers and her mind must of been blank. Either that or completely ravaged by thoughts that tore at the very synapses of her brain, leaving her unresponsive in my presence.

"Andre?" I heard Jade call out my name from across the room, she was sat against the wall with Tori's sleeping state using her legs as a pillow. It was still strange to see the girls caring for each other, but deep down Jade has always had a maternal-like insist, normally with Cat, but with Tori in a weakened state I guess she'd turned her focus. I think Cat's personality change has come as a shock to Jade, she no longer has our Lil'Red to protect, and I think Tori's slowly taking her place. "How's Cat doing?" She asked, I could see the conflict in her eyes, between wanting to help Tori and Cat at the same time.

"No change." I sighed. "How's Tori?"

"Still asleep." Jade told me. "She really needs food."

"Give her mine." Beck spoke up, motioning the the spare slice of bread from today's feeding.

"You need that." Robbie interrupted. "I think... we should... she could..."

"Take from Cat's pile?" I finished for him.

His eyes suddenly dulled as he slowly nodded. I knew it was hurting him to even suggest it, but he was right. There were 3 days worth of bread piled up in a bread-bag, and the first day's worth was starting to get slightly stale. "Wake Tori up." I told Jade. "Cat can't eat it, so we can share out the 3 stalest pieces between us, Tori can have one to herself and we can have half each."

"I feel kinda bad about doing that." Beck sighed. "Cat's going to need it when she wakes up, she hasn't eaten in days."

"She might not wake up for days." I replied honestly, running a hand through my Dreadlocks. "Right now, we need it more than her." Jade slowly woke up Tori and handed her a slice of the bread. Robbie and I had half each of another, and Jade and Beck shared the third slice. Half a slice of bread really isn't much to go on, but when you're trapped in a room with nothing, it's worth the world. As I sunk my teeth into the gluten-filled food, my brain started to wander. Was that really what my life had come to? Half a slice of bread being a luxury, whist one of my bed friends was laying unconscious a few feet away, tortured from an inch of her life. "We really need to get out of here." I spoke up.

"Nah, really?" Jade said in her usual sarcastic tone. I guess that's one thing that hasn't changed throughout all this, Jade's ability to be bitchy.

I jumped to me feet and looked around the room for the hundredth time, searching for something, anything, a crevice, a seal, but the walls are a shiny surface with no clues as to where I could even start to plan an escape. All that's in here is us, a small toilet and sink, a pile of toilet paper, a bed frame (which is now in pieces due to me making the wood into unsuccessful weapons) and the small pile of food and water for Cat once she awakens. I tried to keep my breathing steady, my mind still focused. There had to be a way out, it's just a matter of thinking clearly until I find it. Maybe all I needed to do was ate enough weakness in the walls and then they would crumble under their own weight. Realising very quickly that I could never break the concrete walls, and even if I could we were underground so that would never work. I turned my head to the only thing that could even remotely work as an escape, I tried to open the door, my bare hands pushing against the rough surface of the door. It was all in vain. The door stood stubbornly in its place.

"AH!" I yelled in defeat, slamming my fist into the door. "Crap!" I swore, pulling my hand back, pain suddenly coursing through it.

"Andre!" Tori called out to me. She stumbled to her feet and walked over to me. I could see the hollowness in her face as she got closer, eventually holding my sore hand in her two smaller ones. "Why would you do that?"

"We need to get out of here." I repeated myself.

"And punching a door would help that would it?" She raised at eyebrow at me.

"You and Jade are spending too much time together." I joked lightly, referring to their very Jade-like response.

"And once we're out of here, no one mention that." Jade joked also.

"You know what we should do-" Tori suggested, leading me back towards the others. "-sing. When we last did it, it was kinda fun."

"Without Cat?" Robbie spoke up nervously.

"Let's just do it." Beck encouraged him, trying to forget the situation our red-headed friend was in.

The five of us sat in a pentagon-shape in the middle of the room, facing each other. I hadn't directly looked at anyone that long since we'd gotten thrown in there. We all looked tired, malnourished and dirty. That small sink in the corner wasn't giving us much in the way of cleaning products, just a stream of water, so all our hair was greasy and we didn't really smell the best, though that really was the least of our worries.

Tori suddenly opened her mouth and started belting out notes. From her voice you would never guess that she was in a weakened state. **_(Song: Skyscraper by Demi Lovato) _**_(T=Tori J=Jade B=Beck e.g)_

**T: **Skies_ are crying, I am watching_

_Catching teardrops in my hands_

_Only silence, as it's ending_

_Like we never had a __chance_

_Do you have to make me feel like_

_There's nothing left of me?_

**J: **_You__ can take everything I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper_

_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper_

**A: **_As__ the smoke clears, I awaken_

_And untangle you from me_

_Would it make you, feel better_

_To watch me while I bleed?_

_All my windows still are broken_

_But I'm standing on my feet_

**T,J: **_You__ can take everything I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper_

_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper_

**R,B: **_Go__ run, run, run_

_I'm gonna stay right here,_

_Watch you disappear_

_Yeah-oh, go run, run, run_

_Yeah, it's a long way down_

_But I am closer to the clouds up here_

**All:** _You__ can take everything I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper, oh-oh_

**Tori: **_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper_

_(Like a skyscraper)_

_Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper_

Like all good things, our singing had to end, and unfortunately it ended badly. The large metal door swung open and Michael and another man were stood there, a harsh scent of alcohol wafting from them. The unknown man was roughly the same age as Michael, he isn't much bigger than the average fourteen year old, but there is no doubting his years. He was all muscle on that small frame. A grin spread over his face, wide and open, showing his teeth. In that moment his motives were laid bare; he was a man who enjoyed whatever torment he could inflict on others.

"Who... wh...who was that?" Michael slurred out, stumbling into the room.

"Who was what?" I spoke up, standing to my feet at the same time as Beck.

"You know what!" The nameless man yelled suddenly, his uncoordinated anger a clear sign of a drunkard, and the strong stench of drink adding to it, though he did seem more coordinated then Michael.

"Max, n..n..no need to yell." Michael said to the man, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, in either a friendly way or to support his stumbling form. "We-_hiccup_-We came down here to-_hiccup_-do something, can't remember what, and we-_hiccup_-heard a girl singing."

We all quickly exchanged looks with each other, they must have heard the end of our song, when Tori was singing alone. "You shouldn't be having fun while being kidnapped." Max growled. "So who was it then?!"

"Me." Jade lied, standing to her feet.

"Jade no-" Tori gasped out.

"Come here... then." Michael said, motioning for her to come towards them.

Beck insensitively flinched forward and it caught Max's eye, so he pulled out a gun. "He meant alone." He spat. Beck stopped in his place, I could see the pain in his eyes as Jade slowly walked towards the men. Each step echoed around the otherwise empty room, until she stopped a metre away from them. "She's pretty."

"Yea..h very." Michael said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and then suddenly snapping his fist out in front of him and into Jade's face. The punch was all but uncoordinated, planting straight into her nose, there was a blunt crack and Jade stumbled backwards in shock. Beck jumped forward and caught her as she fell, crimson leaked from both her nostrils and her nose was twisted right slightly.

As we were taking in the shock of the punch, Michael and Max were laughing sadistically to each other. Under the influence of alcohol, everything seems like fun, but hurting someone? No, that wasn't the drink, it was their psychopathic mindsets. "Learnt your lesson?"

"Mhm." Jade nodded, eyes clamped shut and hands covering her nose to catch the blood. Beck lowered her to the ground and crouched beside her, using the cuff of his sweater to clear up the blood. Taking that punch for Tori was brave and she didn't deserve the pain.

"So..." Michael slurred. "Wha...What was that thing... we... we wanted to do Max?"

"You've done enough." I said, standing my ground suddenly.

"I don't think so boy." Max spat, aiming his gun at me. The bullet galloped through the air and I braced for impact, the last 17 years of my life flashing quickly before my eyes... and then fading as the bullet raced past my head and into the concrete wall on the other side of the room. "Don't talk back to us." He was trying to play it off like he meant to miss, but I know he didn't. And that's what scared me. "We wanted to talk to Valentine."

"She's unconscious still." Robbie said nervously.

"Are -_hiccup_\- you lying to us?" Michael threatened.

"N...no." Robbie stuttered, motioning to where Cat was laying in the corner of the room. He was trying so hard to be brave but it was obvious he was scared.

We carefully watched the men as they stumbled towards Cat, swaying as if the ground was the deck of a storm-tossed boat. "None of you better try anything while our backs are turned." Max spoke up, as if reading my mind.

"Yeah-_hiccup_\- remember who brings your food _-hiccup-_ 'cause that could quickly stop." Michael added.

After exchanging a quick look of worry, the 5 of us teens sighed and kept ourselves still in our places, watching the two men from a distance. Personally, my teeth were clenched and I was nervously fiddling with the zip of my jumper, trying to stop myself from lashing out as they approached Cat.

"The boy was right." Max nodded, looking down at Cat's unconscious body. He filched his foot out and I felt myself lurch forward, but Tori grabbed my hand, keeping me put. Turns out, Mad wasn't about to kick her, but instead used his foot to push her head to the side slightly, as if she were some sort of object that needed to me moved, rather than a human being. "She's out cold. Unfortunate, I was looking forward to bragging about how well our attack went, and how the Gambinos are in ruins."

I felt my blood run cold, that was Cat's family, and they were 'in ruins'... what? No! They were our only hope they-

"What?" Michael slurred dumbly. "We didn't 'ruin' them, they fought w-"

"Shut up you idiot." Max spat. "They don't know what happened, I was lying." He spoke in that way drunkard do when they think they're whispering, yelling but in a slightly stuttered and croaked tone.

I sighed in relief, the Gambinos were still out there, and strong. And now they know who has us, there's still hope.

"Oh yeah." Michael chuckled tipsily. "We destroyed them." He lied.

"So what's wrong with her then?" Max changed the subject quickly, sober enough to realise their mistake but too drink to notice it was too late.

"B...broken arm, ribs, bruising to the neck, jaw and internal bleeding." I listed bluntly, knowing that saying anything else could be possibly bad.

"Broken arm and ribs?" Max asked, before patting Michael on the back. "Good job." I felt the bile rise in my in my throat as he congratulated something so evil. "I think our job here is done." I said randomly.

"Back to the drinks!" Michael announced, stumbling back across the room and out of the door which Max. As soon as the sound of it locking echoed around the room, we all rushed towards Jade, checking to see if she was okay.

* * *

Jade POV

"I'b FINE!" I yelled, my 'm' coming out as more of a 'b' noise, due to my broken nose.

"You really aren't." Beck counted, still trying to dab away the rest of my blood.

"I'll survive." I sighed, pushing him away and using my sleeve to catch the rest of the blood.

"I can't believe you got hurt. Again." Beck said to himself, his hands on either side of his head.

"There was nothing you could do." Andre tried to comfort. "They had a gun, and even if you did do something, they're right, they control our food and they could just stop giving it to us and watch us starve."

"I hate this." Beck breathed out. "I mean, I've always hated this but... ARGH We need to get out of here!" He yelled suddenly, anger coursing through his veins.

"Hey Babe, calb(m) down." I said, pulling him around and putting my hands on his shoulder's to calm him. "The Gab(m)binos are still going strong," I reminded "which b(m)eans there's a big chance they're looking for Cat, and therefore, us."

"Sorry." He sighed, kissing my forehead lovingly. "You're right. I lost control, I-"

"It's okay." I smiled weakly. "Cob(m)e on." I lead him to the corner of the room, opposite to where Cat was laying. We sat against the wall and I rested my head onto his shoulder. We hadn't really 'cuddled' since we got here, and I think we both needed it. I felt Beck's hand snake around my waist as we sat beside each other, pulling me closer. Relaxing in the moment, I closed my eyes.

And that's how we stayed. Sat in each other's arms. Together. Until, about 15 minutes later, the door opened again. At first I refused to open my eyes, not allowing this intruder to interrupt this blissful moment, but once I noticed the rhythmic clicking of high heeled shoes, I was curious.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to see the woman that walked into the room. She was stunning, could have graced any billboard or magazine cover, but she was better than those two dimensional photo shopped models. Somehow her imperfections made her perfect. My first thought was questioning why she was here of all places, she did not seem like the type of person so get their hands dirty with Mafia work, but then again, nor did Cat. There was a shyness to the woman, hesitation in her body movements as she stopped in the middle of the room.

"W..who are you?" I heard Tori speak up.

"My name isn't important." The lady shook her head and looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with all of us.

"Why are you here?" I spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but I have to be quick." She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. At first I thought it was a weapon of some sort, but I was quickly disproved, as she revealed a small roll of elastic bandage. Carefully, she placed in on the floor in front of her, moving slowly as if to not scare us. "My husband, he is the heir to this Crime Family-" she started to explain. "-of course I didn't know until we married, but then it was too late. Anyway, I've only come to his place of work once or twice, typically to drive him home when he's had a drink. I came today, and heard him brag about something despicable he had just done, broken a girl's ribs and that she and her friends were locked in the basement." She shuddered as she spoke, and it all suddenly clicked into place in my head, she was on our side. "I knew they had a first aid box here, in case they got injured, and I just had to bring this down. I'm so sorry that you're stuck in here, and I wish I could do more, but I can't." She shot me a sympathetic look, noticing the dried blood on my face. "Here." She said, removing a small box from her other pocket and throwing it to me. "Pain relief." She explained quickly, turning on here heal and walking towards the door.

"Thank you." I said as she left.

We sat in silence for a few moments after the door closed taking in what had just happened. Empathy and compassion was something we had yet to discover during our time there, and we'd just been hit by a truck load of it. That woman, whoever she was, had just done us the world of good, and I hope she knows it. She seemed like a genuine person, a bit maybe a bit of a gold-digger who'd fallen for a man with money, because obviously Michael's personality was nothing to want so there had to be something else. But either way, she was here and she helped us.

I fumbled with the cardboard box in my hand, opening the top and pulling out the tablet tray. The pain in my nose was excruciating, so I popped out 2 of the small white tablets and placed them into my mouth, quickly swallowing them. I counted the remaining 6 tablets and left them inside the box for Cat to take once she woke up. Which reminded me about the bandage left for her. I looked up to see Tori and Andre sat, unraveling it between them.

They stood up together and carried the bandage over to Cat's unconscious frame, the rest of us following behind. As we reached her, Tori and I sat either side of Cat's body and started to lift her shirt. The boys very quickly turned away at this point, I could see Robbie's ears go red as he blushed. I laughed to myself as Tori and I carefully rolled the bottom of her shirt up to her bra. And then it suddenly felt like laughing was the last thing I wanted to do.

I knew Cat hadn't had any food for a few days, but I wasn't expecting this. She wasn't just thin, she was scarily thin. It was so clear just looking at her stuck cheekbones and the skinniness of her limbs, that this girl was malnourished, but lifting her shirt told a whole new chapter of the story. Her ribs stuck out like a sore thumb, not just because of the purple welts on them, but because they were barely covered by the thin layer of flesh that stretched over the bones. They were so stuck out, you could practically see where the break lines were, and nearly the organs that laid beneath her dangerously sunk down stomach. Before arriving here, Cat was in no way fat but not extremely skinny either, she was a very healthy weight, but now... now I couldn't help but wondered how far she was from organ failure.

Wanting to get this over with quickly, Tori and I got to work, carefully wrapping the bandage around her torso to help splint and immobilize the area. It wasn't much, but it would help to keep her ribs in place so they wouldn't heal strangely and hopefully stop some of the pain.

Until she woke up, it was all we could do. That and pray it was enough.


	8. Chapter 8

Cat POV

The Next Morning

My eyes opened, my eyelashes faintly batting against my lids when I blinked. I let out an exasperated sigh, groaning as I laid in the cold corner, the memories flashing before my eyes. What time was it? How long had I been asleep? Was everyone okay? Was I okay? All of these questions shot through my mind as I tried to collect my thoughts, feeling them whirl around my crowded mind.

I could barely move, every muscle had seized up. My body was clearly struggling to recover, to repair the damage. Although my movement was limited; I started to assess my situation as best as I could by only moving my head. There was a definite tightness in my chest, trying to move my arm to touch it, I noticed the make-shift sling (made of my hoodie) and the overwhelming burst of pain produced from the limb it held. Slowly, I lowered the sling back down to look at the damage, quickly averting my eyes from the obvious break. No matter how strong I am, the sight of that lump on my arm, of a stuck out bone and the deep purple smudge of bruise that covered it, was gut wrenching.

Shaking the image from my thoughts, I used my good arm to slowly lift my shirt, revealing an elastic bandage wrapped around my torso. Strangely enough, in this moment I wasn't questioning why I had the bandage on, that part was obvious due to the coursing pain from my ribs, instead I was confused as to how I even had the bandage. Surely the Reato's didn't give it to me, that would be too kind for them. It wasn't in here before, so it's not like we just found it. Either way, I've got it on my body somehow. I carefully lowered my shirt again and felt my hand brush across my stomach. Barely, as if it wasn't there, as if it was too sunk to feel. On cue, my stomach snarled and howled and from it came the not-so-subtle undertone of pain. It came in waves and it seemed as though my stomach was slowly digesting itself. I clutched at it, pulling it this way and that in an attempt to silence it but to no avail. It cried even louder, with a slow pain, eating away at my stomach and leaving me feeling drained and empty.

I needed to eat. And I needed it now. I carefully tilted my head upwards, looking up from the corner of the cell, I tried to steady myself as I attempted to comprehend what was going on around me. I looked around the room and could see my 5 friends all laying unconscious. Temporarily, my heart dropped in my pain-filled chest, panic engulfing me. It looked like they were hurt, andit was my fault, they were unconscious. They... they- _Robbie was snoring?_

Relief filled my body. They were only asleep.

After calming myself down, I slowly made my way to my feet, holding on to the wall for support. My body felt as if I had been bruised in every inch. My legs felt shaky and could not support my body, yet my head was the only thing that was feeling heavy. I placed my good arm on the wall and arched my back as the pain was rushing through my body like an igniting fire. My eyes squeezed closed as my face contorted. Never had I ever experienced such pain in my life, except maybe during the initial torture. I could feel my head spinning before, ultimately, I fell onto the floor, my jaw clenched and grabbing a fistful of my hair, pulling on it helped to ease the pain.

"Cat!" I heard in the distance. "CAT!" Through blurred eyes, I could see a smudge of a black haired girl crouch down beside me. "Cat speak to me!"

In an even more distance place, I could hear the shuffling of multiple pairs feet. "Jade, what happened?" I heard Beck's deep voice speak up.

"She got up... and then just collapsed." Jade replied frantically. I felt her hand rest on my side while everyone else crouched down around me also. Slowly the pain was fading away and my hand released my red locks, still trembling. Sweat trickled down my face and my breathing slowly went back to its normal rhythm.

"Cat?" I heard Tori say to me, the spinning in my head slowly decelerating.

"Y...yeah?" I slurred, my eyes focused more and I could see everyone sat around me.

"Thank God!" Robbie announced happily.

"Do you want to sit up?" I heard Beck ask and weakly I nodded in reply. I felt his strong hand hold me up, delaying my body from collapsing under me, and carefully pulling me into a sitting position, letting my back rest against the wall.

"I..I..." I tried to spit out but the dryness from my mouth made it impossible, my throat now leathery and coarse. There was a pain at the back of my head that threatened to grow into a powerful migraine, a sure sign that dehydration wan't far away.

"Here." Andre said, reaching behind him to where a bottle of water and small pile of bread laid. He undid the water bottle lid and carefully passed it over to me.

I quickly took the bottle from my lips, the burning sensation in my throat grew more and more until I pressed the plastic rim against my dry, cracked lips. Drinking the water after so long without it felt like the greatest luxury on earth. I felt the liquid run down my esophagus and my head made an involuntary shake. A numbness crept into my brain the way it did when I was a kid drinking too much slurpee too fast. But it was the best feeling. It took away the pain momentarily, even the gulping didn't seem to hurt my bruised throat.

Within seconds, the bottle was empty and I felt refreshed. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at everyone around me. They had that pitiful look in their eyes, like I was a weak child unable to look after myself, like I was weak. "Guys?" I said, my voice was scarily quiet and it hurt to talk.

"Yeah?" Tori said, lightly rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand.

I looked at the hand she was holding and pulled away. "Stop that." I said quietly.

"Stop what?" Tori asked, looking slightly hurt that I'd flinched away from her.

"It's just.. I'm okay, stop acting like I'm broken or- ah." I cringed as my stomach grumbled again.

"Eat this." Jade took the bread from the pile and shoved it into my hands.

"Thanks." I breathed out, slowly lifting the bread to my mouth. I took a bite of the slightly stale bread and pushed it around in my mouth for a moment, no matter how hungry I was... something was stopping me from swallowing, like the gnawing pit in my stomach spread and suddenly twisted into a cold, ruthless nausea. I kept pushing through, trying to get my brain to swallow. And eventually, I did swallow, but not until it has been pushed about so much that the starch had been turned into glucose making it taste sweet and- see, my brain was everywhere but focused.

Reluctantly, I took another bite of the bread, this one was a little easier to swallow than the first. And then another bite until I was in a continuous looped trance of eating. I could feel my stomach slowly filling up and I automatically felt better, well as best as I could with the burning pain from the torture. Eventually, I finished the pile of bread, still lent against the wall, and Jade offered me some pain relief.

"Where did you get these?" I asked, swallowing two of the tablets instantly. "And the bandage?"

"It's a strange story." Beck said, running a hand through his hair.

"I've got all day." I replied honestly.

* * *

It was a few hours before I could even attempted to move on my own, the aching still predominant. Everyone had filled me in on what'd happened over since I was knocked out, which apparently wasn't much besides one drunken visit. Robbie had told me about how Michael had let it slip that the Reato attack on my family was unsuccessful, I almost jumped with joy but I just physically couldn't move my body to do it. I knew the Reatos were too weak to do any real damage, but while I was hanging in that room with only my thoughts for company, I had my worries.

However, surrounded by my friends and given this information, even though we were still trapped in this concrete cell, I had more hope than ever before that we would find a way out. Somehow, we would do it.

* * *

Tori POV

I can't believe Cat's been hurt like this, even in her coma she didn't look this bad because then you couldn't see the pain etched on her face and how hard she had to try to not cry out after each breath. Right now, she's laying with her head on my lap, eyes shut just focusing on her breathing, and all I can do is sit here and show some support. If I'm being honest, she looks so rough, and she has every right to after what's happened.

Her eyes have frozen over slightly, like the surface of a winter puddle, robbing them of their usual warmth. She's in there, I know it, but it's like she just took a step back from life. I want to reach in and tell her it's going to be okay. I want to rekindle her heat but her insides are too damp with uncried tears, tears she keeps pushing back further behind her emotional barrier. I wish she never had this pain. I wish things would just be okay. I wish we weren't here.

It's hard to tell, but I think I'm helping her stay positive. Every time I run my hand through her hair, she smiles a little, stating how greasy it is, I always reply in a joking tone with 'Have you seen mine?' (which is a good point, we don't really have anywhere to wash our hair in here). Though how we look isn't our top priority right now, even if we ignored my disgusting hair, my malnourished appearance would be enough to cause concern, though once again I don't care.

Speaking of malnourishment, today has been a particularly hard day on the food front, mainly because we haven't had any yet. Even though I don't really have a proper sense of passing time, I'm sure that its been a day since our last loaf of bread and water delivery. I can't help but panic over if they've just decided to stop feeding us so we starve to death. My stomach growled and I squirmed in where I was sat to try to silence the rumbling, accidentally jogging Cat. Her big brown eyes slowly opened due to the movement, looking up at me with a questioning look. "Sorry." I whispered to her. "It was my stomach."

"It's okay." Cat mumbled, closing her eyes again. "It made a funny sound." There was a small smile upon her face. I think she's gone to her 'special place' in her mind, the same place she goes to when Jade and Beck fight. I kinda presumed it was part of her 'old Cat' personality, maybe it is and she just finds comfort in it, but maybe it's something deeper than that.

She'd just about managed to fall back asleep again when the door opened, revealing Carlo Reato with our delivery of food. "We really knocked her out, didn't we." He smirked evilly, nodding to Cat who was laid with her head on my lap, looking liking like she was still unconscious. There was something off about it though, like there was something on his mind. Passing it off as nothing, I pushed the thought away from my mind.

"Actually she-" Robbie started to speak up, being cut off by Jade elbowing him in the ribs.

"What was that boy?" Carlo spat at him.

"N...nothing." Robbie muttered, rubbing the sore spot on his torso.

"That's what I thought." He mumbled, throwing the food and water into the room before shutting the door and walking away.

"What was that for?" Robbie said to Jade.

"He doesn't need to know she woke up." Jade spat at him. "Speaking of which, wake her up Tori."

"Cat." I mumbled, nudging the red-head. "We got more food."


	9. Chapter 9

The Next Day

Cat POV

I've managed to move a lot better today, not a great amount, but I can at least walk a few feet without having to lean on someone. Though, that isn't too helpful because it's not like I've got very far to go. The aches are still there, dulled but still there, just enough pressure to be an annoyance. It sits there, crushing my chest, stabbing my arm, prodding at my jaw, twisting at my neck. Each breath increases the chest pain to an almost agonising amount, each time I swallow, my throat feels like I'm being flash-burned with acid from the inside, moving my arm is something I can't even fathom doing...

And yet, I push on. Sitting with my back lent again the wall, joining the conversations with the others. They're trying to keep our spirits up, making jokes and talking about the things we'll do 'when we get out of here'. Laughing is nice, it hurts so so much, but it's nice. The reminiscing of past events: stupid things we did as Freshmen, embarrassing stories while acting on stage, the many strange happenings from our various school events. I can't help but forget about everything and just live in the moment, looking at the smiling faces of my friends... I just wish they could look at me. I know I have some bruises on my face, I can feel the dull ache of the pulsing pain under my skin, but I can't look that bad, right? No one seems to be able to look at me without their smile faltering, its as if they're so entranced in the moment of joy that they've totally forgotten everything, like I'm trying to do.

"Remember when we convinced Sikowitz to let us run a fake ping pong team?" Andre spoke up, laughing to himself.

"And someone-" Jade added, looking pointedly at Robbie. "ordered a whole bowl of-"

A sudden explosion of commotion cut her off. It felt like the room was shaking as a cacophony of footsteps echoed through the hallway outside of the door, followed by said door catapulting open. The noise echoed around the room as the door swung so hard it slammed into the wall beside it at such an immense force that the room shook.

* * *

No POV, A few moments prior

Michael and Carlo Reato, the father and son leaders of the Reato Crime Family. A few days ago, they felt on top of the world, having kidnapped the daughter of their enemy, the Gambino Family. Now though, they'd just tried to attack the Gambinos in their Head Quarters, but somehow they'd failed their mission, the Gambinos being prepared and ready to fight back. Over half of the Reato men sent out to attack never returned back, damaging the morale of the remaining men.

It seems that between the now and attack, the Gambinos played the Reatos at their own gain, using one of the captured men to gain information over the location of the Head Quarters. Now, they're on their way to get Cat back, and they're coming with a vengeance. Within moments of receiving this information, the Reatos were sent into a panic, having to quickly create a plan of action.

"We should just go, leave the girl here, just run." Michael blurted out, pacing back and forth in his father's office on the top floor of their Head Quarters.

"If we leave her here then they get her back and they've won. All of this would be for nothing." Carlo told his son, sat at his desk trying to think desperately to think clearly. "But we do need to leave, just take her with us."

"What's the point in that? We can't use her for anything. If we try to get anymore information out of her she'll end up dead, we may as well cut to the point and kill her now, leaving her for them to find."

"As temping as that sounds-" Carlo said darkly. "-giving them her body would be too kind. If we take her then they won't have any part of her, no answer to the questions 'what happened?' or 'where is she?'. If you take the two other girls, then we could use them for information bargaining."

"Just the girls?" Michael asked.

"All 6 of them would be too much trouble for it's worth." Carlo dismissed quickly. "Just go gather some men and go grab them, I'll get the van ready." He finished.

Michael clenched his jaw and quickly bolted out of the room, racing down the stairs of the Head Quarters down to the basement, gather as many men as he could find on the way. It was made clear that many had fled after hearing the news of the oncoming threat, though there was still enough for Michael to use. "Hurry!" Michael commanded the men as raced on. "Leave the boys; just grab the girls."

"Should we kill them?" One man spoke up.

"No time. They'll starve anyway if we leave them." Michael replied. He and the men continued to the basement, quickly unbolting the door of unburnished silver which held the teens captive. Instantly, Michael raised the pistol which was previously in his back pocket and aimed it into the room walking in quickly with the other men behind. "Boys!" Michael yelled. "In the back corner."

Andre, Robbie and Beck quickly exchanged a look of panic, before following the man's command, shuffling into the far corner of the room. Michael continued to point his gun at them while the other men grabbed the girls, carrying and dragging them out of the room while they tried to fight. The look of panic and anger on the boy's faces was clear, but with a gun pointed at them, they knew better then to act out.

After most the men had left, taking the girls with them, Michael slowly backed out of the room, gun still in hand. "I hope you said your goodbyes." He smirked before quickly slamming the door shut and locking it behind him.

"What? NO!" Beck screamed out, realising it wasn't a bluff, racing towards the door and slamming his hands against it in a feeble attempt to knock it down. "JADE!" He screamed. "TORI! CAT!" He slammed his hands into the door a few more times as tears of rage began to pour down his face. "NO!"

The anger filled the room, from not only Beck but the other two occupants. White knuckles from clenching their fists too hard, and gritted teeth from effort to remain silent. Robbie was hunched form exuded an animosity that was like acid - burning, slicing, potent. Andre's face was red with suppressed rage, his mind spinning with 101 galloping thoughts.

It was a solid 10 minutes before the true realisation hit, in the form of Robbie opening his mouth."Without Cat here... what's the point in keeping us alive?" He thought aloud. Beck and Andre quickly focused their attention towards him, at first confused. "They don't need us to get information out of Cat... 'cause she's not here."

"I don't think they're going to come back for us." Andre spoke up.

"So we're stuck in here to starve to death."

* * *

Jade POV

They dragged me out of the basement, my feet hitting dragging against every step it took to get to the ground floor. They easily overpowered my struggles, my kicks and screams, and threw me into a van, along with Cat and Tori. They sat us in a sitting position and tied out hands together. I stared daggers at them and they just smiled psychotically.

Next came the drugs. I couldn't tell you exactly what it was, just a smell on a cloth, held over my nose and mouth. Making the lights dance in front of my eyes, shadows and shapes morphed together like some dysfunctional psychedelic puzzle. The only thing bold enough for my eyes to even remotely focus on was Cat's bright red hair in front of me. After seeing her start to wobble and then fall into unconsciousness, I followed suit, my eyes slowly closing. My head rocked back and my body crashed into the floor of the van, darkness engulfing me.

God know how long it was before my eye lids gave way, allowing me to wake up. Slowly I sat upright, pushing myself off of the old mattress that I seemed to be on, feeling the cold floor right through it, to look at my surroundings. As I scanned my eyes around the room, it hit me that we'd been moved without the boys and now we could be anywhere. I craned my neck for a window, there was none on any of the abnormally tall walls. In the corner of the room there was a set of rickety and narrow wooden stairs, leading to a high up door. That gave me a little information. It showed that we were once again in a basement, but for all I knew we could be a mile underground, in some random room in a isolated prison. The only source of light in the room was an old fashioned bulb on a bare white wire and its switch was nowhere to be seen. There was something amateurish about the way the walls had been set. The angles weren't quite right, only consisting of drywall and timber. That in itself ruled out quite a lot of places, my money was on this being someone's personal homemade jail cell, less guarded then the HQ, meaning our possibility for an escape was much more likely then last time.

My brain suddenly focused on any possible things to use to get out, like Cat had taught me in the last room. I scanned my eyes around the room again, looking now for small items, rather then the obvious stuff. Four barren walls, a concrete floor, a toilet and the bare mattress where I was laying - where Cat and Tori were still laying, unconscious.

Straight away, I fell to my knees beside where the two were laid, seemingly thrown on top of each other. Quickly, I checked both of their pulses and breathing - both were fine. Next I carefully moved Tori's body away from Cat's so that any over-lapping of their limbs was not hurting the red-head in any way. It was surprising that I hadn't noticed them there when I was waking up, the mattress being too small for all three of us to lay on without knocking each other.

"Jade?" I heard Cat's voice speak up.

"I'm here, I'm here." I repeated, crouching down next to her, and helping her to slowly sit upright. "You feeling okay?"

"A little sore." She said quietly. I could tell she was trying to act tough, but the pain in her body was taking over.

"Can I fix your sling?" I asked her, motioning to how the make-shift hoodie-sling that was holding her broken arm had slightly unravelled itself.

"Sure." She replied, still as quiet as before.

Slowly, I reached out my arms and carefully undid the sleeves which were loosely tied behind her neck, keeping the cast up. The hoodie fell to reveal her arm. The break wasn't much better than before, and I couldn't help but grit my teeth as I looked at it. There was still a clear bump where the bone was split and moved closer to the skin, which was more purple than any other colour, with slight yellows and greens swirled into it too. It looked horribly painful and I couldn't imagine how it felt.

Carefully, I re-shaped the hoodie and laid Cat's arm back onto it, moving slowly as to not cause anymore pain. Despite my efforts, I could still see her face closed in a grimace as I lifted the sling and re-wrapped the two sleeves together behind her neck. As soon as her arm was re-supported, slightly re-aligning the two parts of the bone, Cat visibly relaxed. "Thank you." She said, smiling slightly at me.

She's being so tough, holding everything back behind a wall of strength. Of course the signs of pain sometimes slip through the cracks, the clenching of her jaw and distant look in her eyes, but for someone who wasn't looking for it, they wouldn't know of the internal suffering she's dealing with. But no form of emotional barrier can distract from her looks; the bruises on her jaw and neck have sunken into horrible purple-green stain that has spread across the bottom of her face, and that's not even mentioning the internal injuries littering her body. I can see in her eyes that her brain has just built some new walls, a barrier to the pain she fells.

"Don't worry about it." I replied, returning a reassuring smile. "You okay?" I asked.

"I'll be fine." She mumbled, clearly wanting to change the subject.

Nodding in understanding, I chose a new topic. "Do you, by any chance, know where we are?" I asked hopefully.

Cat's eyes widened slightly as she remembered that we'd been moved, quickly looking past me and at the surrounding room. You could almost see her brain at work as she looked around, trying to take in as much information as possible, like I had done. "Not much different from the last place." She commented dryly. "You tried opening the door?" She added, motioning to door at the top of the wooden staircase.

"It's probably locked, but it's worth a shot at trying." I replied, finding my way to my feet and slowly helping her up.

We walked across the room slowly, after I helped Cat to her feet. I could tell she was still in pain but I decided to not comment on it. We reached the corner of the room, and started to carefully climb up the set of cracked and damaged wooden stairs, each step bending or moving slightly as we walked. The bottom of the stairs was on the floor of the basement, and the top of the door frame was flush with the high ceiling, presumably leading directly into the floor above. Reaching the top of the unstable staircase, I reached the cold metal handle of the door and started to pull it down. There was a moment of hope when the handle didn't get stuck, but when I tried pulling the door open, it was not budging at all. I frantically started pushing and pulling the door back and forth, no matter how much force I used it still didn't move out of the frame it was stuck in.

"Definitely locked." Cat sighed, turning and carefully walking back down the steps. "It was worth the shot though."


	10. Chapter 10

Robbie POV

Trapped. Locked. Alone. I've been in here for God knows how long. Before, there was always hope that we'd get out, the hope that I grasped onto, that I relied on. Now though... there's nothing.

The thoughts are accelerating inside my head. I want them to slow so I can breathe but they won't. My breaths come in gasps and I feel like I will black out. My heart is hammering inside my chest like it belongs to a rabbit running for its skin. The room spins and I squat on the floor, trying to make everything slow to something my brain and body can cope with. Beck and Andre notice and come closer. I feel so sick. I want to ask for help but I cant, no words are forming, no voice. I don't know what to say, how to talk. Andre crouched down. Beck pounds his first against the door again. Breathe, no escape, trapped, no words... blackness... creeping blackness... I'm on the floor in a ball- the fetal position. How can we get out, what's my name, what to say, what day is it, the room is spinning...blackness...no escape...

* * *

Andre POV

When Robbie's eyes closed, I knew it was better for his mind to be at rest. Panic attacks do that to you, create frantic and repeated thoughts, spinning and spinning until... nothing. Lights out... unconsciousness. Panic attacks are something I am not unaware of. Usually, I'm calm and collected but there isn't a person alive who doesn't experience anxiety, the uneasiness, sweaty palms, dry mouth, the panic. The same way there isn't a person alive who doesn't fear being closed in, fear being trapped in darkness. Anxiety isn't rare, it's ubiquitous, it's just a matter of the degree you feel it. Personally, I've only had a handful of minor panic attacks in my life, for reason I'd rather not go into, but clearly Robbie gets them bad.

While Beck continued to settle into his primitive actions, still trying to rip down the metal door, I sat beside Robbie, folding my hoodie into a make-shift pillow for his head to rest on. "Beck-" I spoke up. "Beck stop."

"No!" He yelled, tugging on the door handle. "We need to get out!"

"Beck it's no use." I replied quietly, holding back the tears that suddenly threatened to prick my eyes. "Just stop."

"I can't." Beck replied, his voice breaking slightly as he talked. "We need to get out... to get to the girls."

"I know." I replied. "But we just can't."

"We can't loose hope... we need to find a way... we..." He was trying so hard to be strong, to be tough, but the emotions just overtook him. His sobs were stifled at first as he attempted to hide his despair, then he was overcome by the wave of emotions and just broke down entirely, all his defences washed away in those salty tears.

When he at last turned his face toward me he was a picture of grief and devastation. It was the face of one who had suffered before and didn't know if he could do it again. I opened my arms for him, pulling him into a comforting hug. His body shook as he sobbed, and I comforted him as much as I could, holding him close, allowing his walls to break down.

In tough situations, everyone reacts diffidently, you never know how exactly, until you are in such a situation. Robbie panics, Beck gets angry and then cries, me? I guess I go cold, pretending it's not happening. It's how I cope, and that's how they cope. And that's okay. We have the right to react however we need to. Who knows how long we have left, there's no point in trying to be strong... we just need to be human.

* * *

Jade POV

Cat was trying so hard to be strong, just sat on the mattress beside where Tori was laid, trying to focus her mind on anything but the pain that she felt. It seemed that she thought she needed to hide her emotions from the world, that her position as the daughter of a Mafia boss demanded a look of complete confidence and control. But I could see through it, her facade fading with the endurance of the pain. I could see it in her eyes, her movements, her drooping posture... and yet she continued to try and mask the pain with a cold expression.

This was one of moments when I missed the Cat I knew, the girl from Hollywood Arts. The girl who would randomly burst into outlandish stories about her insane brother. The girl who would talk to someone for 20 minutes, just because they looked a little bit sad. The girl who would scream 'WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!' after any form of comment related to her, even if it wasn't an insult. Her idiosyncrasies were what made her special, and I can't help but miss them.

This Cat, the 'real' Cat, was different. She was distant, she was cold, she was like me. When the 'old' Cat was running around and being hyper, I'd wish for her to calm down and be like me… now though… I want her back.

There are moments when the 'old' Cat does returned, such as how she was subconsciously stroking Tori's hair for comfort while the half-latina laid there. It made me wonder if the 'old' her wasn't a complete false personality, or maybe she was actually like that before, just shutting down now because her secret life came out and we were thrown into this horrible scenario.

"Cat?" I spoke up, interrupting my own thoughts are well as hers.

"Yeah?" She replied, there was a slight pang in my heart at her response, a small part of my hoping for her to switch back suddenly and reply with "_Yup yup, Jadey?" _or something along the lines of that jovial reply.

"How's Tori?" I asked, motioning to the still unconscious Tori beside her.

She turned her head towards the half-latina, her eyes scanning Tori's unconscious frame." The same." She replied.

"Why'd you think she's been out longer then us?" I spoke up.

"Maybe they use stronger drug on her, or she's just in a worse state then we thought." She said, her voice distant and with a tone of sadness.

"You're probably right." I replied, my tone mimicking hers. I shuffled closer to Tori, looking closer at her. Sure, I'd noticed her hollow cheeks and pale complexion, the lack of food had effected us all, but the malnourishment was taken to a whole new level on Tori. For some reason, she was burning the calories faster then anyone, even Cat, who missed a few days of food looked better off then Tori, but I guess she had slightly more weight to begin with. I dreaded to think how I looked, having no access to a mirror, but apart from the gnawing pain for hunger and the lack of energy I had, I felt like I wasn't doing too badly compared to Cat and Tori. For that I was grateful, however I was still nearing the stages of starvation and that was certainly making things uncomfortable for me. There is nothing kind about withering away until taken by an avoidable problem, the prevention lying within someone else's grasp: the cold, cold hands of our vindictive kidnappers.

As if on cue, the doors at the top of the staircase swung open, revealing a very disgruntled looking Michael, a tray of something balanced on his right hand. He slowly walked down the steps towards us, focused on not dropping anything or falling flat on his face. I silently wished for that to happen as I needed a good laugh, but with his short temper, any laughing at him could end very badly.

Eventually, both his feet were firmly on the floor of the basement, and without a word he walked over to where Cat and I were stood, silently watching his movements. He stopped a mere meter away from us, I could feel the frustration radiating from him, and see every frown line across his face. "Though I'd rather you starve to death down here-" He began, practicably spitting out each word, "-my father says you need food. And apparently you need more then you've been getting." I could feel my eyes widen and my heart race increase as he spoke- pathetic really, that I was happy by the prospect of slightly more food. "So here." He shoved forward the tray, which I could now see had 3 apples, 3 cheese sandwiches, and 3 bottles of water on it. I stuck my arms out to grab it, but he let go before I had the chance to get a hold on it. The plastic tray was sent down towards the ground, clattering as it made contact with the concrete, the 3 apples haphazardly rolling away. I could feel Cat tense up beside me, trying her hardest to bite her tongue to stop her from speaking up. "Pick it up then!" Michael spat, his voice raised.

I hesitated for a moment, apparently that moment being too long for Michael to wait. Impatiently, he grabbed my shoulder and pushed me to the ground, easily overpowering my weakened frame. As I fell, I suck my arms out in front of me, quickly saving my face from crashing harshly into the cold, hard floor. I felt a shaky hand pull me back up to my feet, Cat was trying so hard to not yell back and Michael, knowing it wouldn't end well that and she couldn't fight back with her injuries. "Thanks." I whispered as I steadied myself, looking back at Michael with a cold expression.

In his arrogant triumph, he smirked - just a small crease of amusement; a narrowing of the eyes and a tilting of the head. It was so subtle, it was even more infuriating for Cat, who's fists were slightly clenched by her side. I could tell he was trying to get a reaction out of her, and he knew it was working. "Nice to see you awake Valentine." He spoke slowly, turning to Cat. "We really beat you up good. A broken arm I see." He suck out one of his fingers to harshly poke her sling-held arm, a small whimper escaping as he made contact, his smirk growing. "Unlike your friend I see." He commented, referring to Tori. "She's very pretty. And very,_ very_ vulnerable."

"Don't listen to him Cat." I spoke up. If he kept talking like that, Cat would flip and get hurt. I was trying so hard to hold myself back, but I knew it was harder for Cat, she had so much more against him.

"Shut up you." Michael spat at me, before turning back to Cat. "Got nothing to say for yourself Valentine?"

I felt my heart drop as Cat opened her mouth to reply, I dreaded to think what comeback she's come up with, and how she'd fuel Michael's want for a fight. Though, she did nothing of the sort. "Where are we?" She spoke, calmly and plainly, as if none of the past conversation had happened. She was completely ignoring him, and I couldn't help but slightly smirk myself.

"Far, far away." Michael spoke back, trying to continue the effort for a fight. "Where your family can't find you again. No one knows where you are, and no one will ever know." He still wore the smirk on his face as he finished talking, thinking he'd really found something that would make Cat crack. But his words seemed to have to opposite effect, Cat smiled. There was no annoyance in her expression, no anger. There was a light in her eyes and the shadow of her dimple.

With a look of confusion replacing the smirk, Michael turned and stormed out of the room, unwilling to let himself continue in the face of defeat. The sound of the door slamming and locking echoed around the room, I quickly turned my head towards Cat. "W... why are you happy?" I asked. "What he said- why would that make you happy?"

"Don't you see?" Cat asked. "He said they won't find us 'again'."

"And?" I asked, not understanding what she meant.

"The reason we were moved. My father found us Jade." She explained, I felt a smile form on my own face. "If he did it once, he can do it again."

"That's news I can drink to." I said, motion to the tray of food and drink on the floor.

"Agreed. I'll try to wake Tori up." She said, crouching down beside her. "Tori-" Cat spoke lightly shaving Tori's shoulders as she laid there, still as a statue. "Tori, please wake up."

We'd tried to wake Tori a few times since we'd arrived, and nothing had worked. I was beginning to really worry about my old fr-enemy.

I felt my stomach drop at the thought of how we used to be. Back to the time when we first met, the time where I would have loved to see Tori unconscious... I can't believe I was that cruel once. "Tori." I started to join Cat by waking her. "Wait- I've got an idea."

Grabbing one of the bottles of water from the tray beside me, I slowly undid the cap and poured a small amount of the drink into the cap. Bringing the cap up to Tori's lips, I slowly poured it into her mouth. Cat carefully lifted Tori into a sitting position for the water to flow down her throat, and I continued to pour cap-fulls of water into her mouth.

5 minutes, and half a bottle of water later, we were beginning to loose hope. Tori was still not waking up, and Cat and I really wanted to eat our provided food. "That's all we can do." I sighed, placing the lid back into the half-empty bottle. I got to my feet to go and receive the apples, which had previously rolled off of the tray, when I heard Cat gasp behind me.

"She's waking up!" Cat stated.

"Huh?" I heard Tori mumble, her brown eyes slowly fluttering open. "Who's... walking?"

"Waking." Cat corrected. "And it's you, silly." She was practically beaming as Tori slowly got her bearings.

Looking at the two of them once again reminded me of the old Cat; despite the bruises on her face, the shadows of her fights. The one who'd call everyone 'silly', while showing off her biggest smile.

"Where are we?" Tori said, rubbing her eyes as she sat upright, looking at the room around her.

"My family found where we were, so the Reatos moved us." Cat explained bluntly.

"Where are the boys?" Tori asked in slight panic.

"We don't know." I cut in. "Just... don't think about it."

"We have food." Cat added in a quick subject change. "Not much, but it's better then before."

"Here." I placed the apples into the tray and pushed it between the three of us. "Let's eat."

Before the words had fully left my lips, Cat and Tori had shot forward and grabbed their portion of the food. Smiling to myself slightly, I joined them.


	11. Chapter 11

Beck POV

I don't know how long it's been since the girls left, though doubt it's been much longer than an hour. It's been dead silent since then; normally there's a distant noise of talking or boots on the floor above us. Now there's no noise. It's like the Reatos have just left us here alone. To die. I have no idea why they've done it either, why now, and why they've taken the girls.

All we could do was stay sat in the room, waiting in the silence (for what, we were unsure), praying for some way out, for someone to save us. A part of me knew that we were stuck there, but I refused to let go of the last strands of hope.

Then. It happened. Noise returned suddenly, like a cacophony of footsteps echoing around floor above us. Maybe they _were_ footsteps, but whatever it was it was a sign that someone else was in the building. Either our savours or our killers. Whoever was on the floor above, were either of a large build or men who didn't seem to care who heard them, maybe considers themselves untouchable. I could hear the faint muffle of yelled words, the footsteps becoming more spread out across the ceiling.

"What should we do?" Robbie whispered, the footsteps also seemingly intriguing him. "Call out for help?"

"They might come down here and kill us, we don't know who they are." Andre whispered back.

"We'll be dead anyway if they leave us." Robbie reminded.

"HELP!" I screamed out, Robbie's words enough to convince me of my actions. "HELP! WE'RE TRAPPED IN THE BASEMENT!"

As my voice echoed around the room, I could practically feel the movement halt above us. "_Did you hear that?" _I could vaguely make out a man say. There was another mumbled voice, responding to the first, then the footprints took off again. They seemed faster then before, almost desperate to reach us. I couldn't help but panic at this, maybe yelling out alarmed them, maybe Robbie was right and they were going to kill us. Their footsteps became deafeningly loud, echoing off the hallway outside of the door, announcing their presence to all in a several hundred metre radius. "_Pick the lock!"_ I heard a man command from outside of the door. The panicky feeling continued to rise inside of me, making me slink in the corner of the room, like it would somehow protect me.

The clicking of the lock was quickly proceeded by the door swinging violently open. A small ground men were revealed, one stepping forward in front. He was the spitting image of an Italian man, tanned skin, slick brown hair and big brown eyes. I could tell from his expression that he was suffering with something, grief, loss, worry, oddly enough the same expression Cat has when she is upset. Cat... He looked like Cat... he- "Y...you're Cat's father." I gasped, looking at the man. That explained it all. The Gambinos must have found the Reato Head Quarters, that's why they took the girls and ran.

"Catarina?" The man said quickly. In the blink of an eye, his gun was raised. "What do you know of my daughter? Where is she? TELL ME!" I could practically heard the desperation in his voice.

"We're her friends." I replied quickly, trying to stay brave as the other men filed into the room, pushing Andre, Robbie and I further into the corner. "We were taken by the Reatos with her."

"What school does she go to?" Cat's dad said randomly, not lowering his gun.

"H...Hollywood Arts." Andre stuttered out. "Like us."

"What she allergic to?" The man spat out.

"Peanuts." I spoke up quickly, still confused as to why the questions.

"What is her middle name?" The man, his body shaking slightly.

"She... she doesn't have one." Robbie finished, searching his brain for information, spotting the trick question.

Suddenly, the man lowered his gun, motioning for the other men to stand down. "They are telling the truth." He informed them. "No liar would know that."

"We... we wouldn't lie." Andre stumbled over his words. "Why the questions though?"

"The Reatos took my Baby Girl-" Cat's Dad said. "-I've not been the same without her... I... I knew some of her friends were taken too, the police informed me... they're getting suspicious of us..." He began to ramble. No matter how strong of a man- a mafia leader- he one was, without Cat, he was broken. "You could have be liars."

"I assure you, we aren't."

"Where is my Cat?" He cut in quickly.

"We... we don't know." Robbie spoke up, looking at the ground.

"The Reatos took her away earlier, with and Tori and Jade. We don't know where, I'm sorry." I said.

I could see the man's body physically slump at the news, his eyes go wide and breathing halt. Though, within moments any sign of the emotion had passed, like his mind was ordering his body to fall in line. Like emotion was a disaster, a show of weakness an inlet for his men to see him as less than. Nothing in his face betrayed his sadness, it was a mask of defiance and strength, that's why he was the leader. "Search the place for any remaining Reatos." He said to the man beside him. "We'll take these boys back to their families."

"I want to help find the girls." I spoke up.

"You can... with time."

* * *

No POV

The outside world was somewhat foreign to the boys. The first breath they took of the outdoor air was breathtaking... _wait was that a pun? _They could see the ground, the sun, the sky, just everything. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the light, after being trapped in the concrete cell for so long, but they didn't really have too much time to take it all in, before they were motioned into a large black car, with blacked-out windows on all sides, stopping anyone from looking in. There were so many seats inside, it was practically classed as a limo, with a driver already sat in the front of it, he looked about half-way between a chauffeur and a get away driver, stern and concentrated on the car, yet well dressed and presentable. The passenger seat was occupied by Cat's father, Leonardo Valentine, still with a sour expression plastered across his face.

The boys looks around the car they were placed in, and rested directly into their leather seats, the memories of comfort flashing back into their brains. "There's food in the cooler." Leonardo told them, leaning back and tapping his hand on the built-in cooler in the back of the van. "There's quite a bit in there, as we hoped to return all of you home, not just 3." He sighed, the mission's failure still very painful to him.

The boys quickly nodded, before ripping open the cooler, grabbing the first piece of food their arms could reach. None of them cared what they were eating or what the taste was. It was food, they could eat it. That's all that mattered.

As the boys began to eat, the driver put the key in the ignition and began to drive away. For a mafia driver, the man was going pretty slow, though that was probably for precaution. If they were caught speeding and the police called them over, trying to explain the three 'missing' boys in the back seat would be extremely hard to explain. "You mentioned that you wanted to help to find the girls." Leonardo spoke up, looking at Beck though the reflection of the rear-view mirror, his expression serious and cold.

"Y..yes Sir." Beck nodded, quickly trying quickly to swallow his mouthful of food.

"Good." Leonardo said, a small smirk forming. "And you two?" He spoke to the others. Robbie and Andre both nodded, not quite as enthusiastically as Beck, though they were more focused on the food. "You can help us out, and we will help you to get your revenge." He continued.

"Thank you." Beck spoke up.

"There are a few things we need to discuss before we take you back home." Leonardo changed the subject suddenly, his tone darkening. "You see, the police have gotten involved with the case of your disappearance, and we can't just tell them of the relation to the Gambinos and Reatos, in fact the cops know nothing of the gang's involvement. It would be in your best interest to keep it that way."

"What should we tell them when they ask?" Beck spoke up.

"Lie." Leonardo replied bluntly. "That you made a run for it, no idea where you were or how you got back. Act naive, give away as little information as possible and never mention the Reato name. We can fix this on our own, without the police. If they get involved, we may loose the girls forever. Understand?"

"We understand." Beck replied quickly, answering of the three of them. "We should probably come up with a story of some sort." He told Andre and Robbie.

"That would be advisable." Leonardo cut in. "Remember, if it is found out that you told the police something you shouldn't have... it will be your necks on the line."

* * *

With help from Leonardo, the boys came up with a simple fake story line:

_ They were on the way back from Nozu's, walking past an alley, when this group of armed men jumped them. The men shoved them into two vans, separated the boys and girls. The boys didn't even know if the girls were taken to the same place as them, so when the boys did eventually find a way to escape, a few days later, they couldn't go searching for the girls and just made a run for it. It was night-time when they found their way out, so they couldn't see where they were, they just kept running and walking until they eventually stumbled their way back to LA._

This alibi of sorts would give away nothing to the police. It would give a cover as to why the boys didn't know where Tori, Cat and Jade where, it would ignore any gang involvement, it would explain why only the boys escaped, and it wouldn't give away any reasons why the teens were taken or where they were taken to. It was perfect as a cover for the Gambinos to do what they needed, but hell for the police who were also, but separately, involved with the case.

Now this whole cover up would be ruined if Leonardo simply drove the boys to their houses and dropped them off outside, so about a mile away from the LA police station, the car stopped within an old car park. "We'll contact you when we need you." Leonardo spoke up. "So I'd suggest you buy a new phone."

From a press of a button by the driver, the two doors in the back of the car opened. Without as much as a word from Leonardo, the boys stepped out of the car and shut the doors behind them. The clicking barely had enough time to reach the boy's ears before it was completely overtaken by the sound of tires squealing, the car engine pushed to the limit as the driver put his foot on the accelerator. The car was out of sight in seconds, leaving the boys to question whether it had even ever been there at all.

"Let's start walking I guess." Beck said to the two others, leading them out of the entrance of the abandoned car park.

The walk to the police station wasn't that long, but the strange looks they got from those they passed were frequent, I mean the boys were definitely eye-catching. Firstly, it was clear they were unclean and under-fed, their clothes ripped and dirty from the room they'd been trapped in, their cheeks hollow and skin tight against their bones. Next, they looked way too excited to be walking down a street. Their eyes lit up as they looked around, studying every inch of the street. Each breath they took was fresh, each step was new, each moment was freedom.

They continued in this manner the whole way to the station, telling the first officer they saw that they were safe. Within moments of the news, Tori's dad appeared from his office, hopeful to see his daughter. But once his eyes met Beck's, and he saw no sign of Tori... he reacted the same as Leonardo, suddenly dominated by a profound sadness. "I'm sorry." Was all the boys could say to the man before he turned away, slamming the door of his office shut after he walked in.

"Come with me." Another officer said, leading the boys to a separate room. "We will call your families, but first we need to question you." He told them.


	12. Chapter 12

Tori POV

Like in the previous concrete cell, I've been measuring the days through how often we've been fed. However unlike before, I'm pretty sure we are now being fed twice a day. In any other situation, 2 small meals would seem borderline horrific, and no where near enough food to function on (which is true) but compared to the tiny amount of bread from before, this fruit and sandwiches is near luxury. Right now, we've just finished eating our 6th meal, which means it's the evening of our 3rd day trapped in this new basement.

I can't tell you why the Reatos have decided to give us more food, maybe they've finally developed a heart, but either way I'm thankful for it. They haven't re-started the interrogations either, not even laying a hand on any of us. Cat thinks they're scared that the Gambinos will find us again, or just focusing on rebuilding what they lost after they quickly fled. It's hard to know for certain without being given information from anyone, so all we can do it guess. But we have nothing much to do down here, so we have a lot of time to come up with our theories.

Focusing our minds on things like that is all we can do to stop ourselves from going insane. Our whole lives we've been used to having technology at our fingertips which took every ounce of our attention, but now without it, without any form of entertainment, I can feel my brain slowly turning into mush. Some people revel in the sensory calm that isolation can bring, and the creativity it can bring to life. For me, being alone is my worst nightmare. With nothing to do, my deepest fears claw at the base of my throat and bury themselves in my chest, quickening the gentle thud of my heart. I've spent all my time here trying to shut forget about where I am, drifting into a world of my own, memories dancing with fantasies until the line between them and reality is blurred. I take solace in my imagination; a transient fortress that only I could enter. Escaping reality is the easy part. But there is only so long I can hide before life starts breaking down the mental walls, the aching of my weak body tearing me back to the harsh reality.

Jade it one of those creative minds who can create whole stories in her head, mentally acting out every scene until the plot line is complete. She keeps attempting to tell me them, but without being able to write it down, the stories fade away before her eyes, and I'm once again left without any form of imagination, boredom engulfing me.

Like always, singing has kept us going, but we have to do it quietly so the Reatos do not hear, and the lyrics repeatedly keep slipping from our tired minds, that can very quickly get dull too. I'd never thought I'd say that singing was dull. I think back to the memories music brings me, the show that brought my into HA, the Prome, my 2nd audition, mine and Jade's 'play date'/really weird evening, the Platinum Music Awards. These are all times it felt as if the music was teaching my brain how to flow, how to be myself. It was if the different tone fuelled different emotions, creating different highs, a sort of auditory massage for my mind. Music is an invitation to feel the presence of myself, the ever patient version of me who waits to be spoken to, and is content to do so. Maybe it's worth one more shot.

Quickly wracking my brain, I searched for the perfect song, one that would prove I wasn't scared. To hell with the Reatos and if they hear me singing. In this moment I feel powerful, like I can take them on, I need to tell them that. They need to hear that they haven't broken me yet... I need myself to hear it.

* * *

No POV **(To really get into this chapter, please listen to the songs as you read. Thanks x)**

(Song: Warrior by Demi Lovato)

**Tori:**_"This is a story that I have never told_  
_I gotta get this off my chest to let it go_  
_I need to take back the light inside you stole_  
_You're a criminal_  
_And you steal like you're a_ pro

_All the pain and the truth_  
_I wear like a battle wound_  
_So ashamed, so confused_  
_I was broken and bruised_

* * *

Her words automatically caught the attention of the two others in the room. At first it seemed like they were going to tell her to be quieter, but the passion was immersive, and within moments they felt the same strength to fight. Cat and Jade looked to each other to question whether to join, or just sit back and listen. A whole conversation seemed to be had between those simple looks, wordlessly agreeing on a final outcome.

* * *

**All:**_ Now I'm a warrior_  
_Now I've got thicker skin_  
_I'm a warrior_  
_I'm stronger than I've ever been_  
_And my armor, is made of steel, you can't get in_  
_I'm a warrior_  
_And you can never hurt me again._

* * *

From the years of singing together in Hollywood Arts, the three knew how to expertly weave their voices into a perfect harmony, blending each note as if they'd rehearsed 1000 times. If the barren room was good for one thing, it was the echo it produced which provided pretty decent acoustics.

* * *

**Tori: **_Out of the ashes, _**All:** _I'm burning like a fire_  
**Tori: **_You can save your apologies, _**All:**_you're nothing but a liar  
_**Tori: **_I've got shame, I've got scars_  
**All: **_That I will never show_  
**Tori: **_I'm a survivor_  
**All: **_In more ways than you know_

**All (Tori as main, Cat and Jade backing):  
**_Cause all the pain and the truth_  
_I wear like a battle wound_  
_So ashamed, so confused_  
_I'm not broken or bruised_

**All: **_'Cause now I'm a warrior_  
_Now I've got thicker skin_  
_I'm a warrior_  
_I'm stronger than I've ever been_  
_And my armor, is made of steel, you can't get in_  
_I'm a warrior_  
_And you can never hurt me_

**All (Louder):**_There's a part of me I can't get back_  
_A little girl grew up too fast_  
_All it took was once, I'll never be the same_  
_Now I'm taking back my life today_  
_Nothing left that you can say_  
_'Cause you were never gonna take the blame anyway_

**Tori: **_Now I'm a warrior_  
_I've got thicker skin_  
_I'm a warrior_  
_I'm stronger than I've ever been_  
**All: **_And my armor, is made of steel, you can't get in_  
_I'm a warrior_  
_And you can never hurt me again_

**Tori: **_No oh yeah yeah_

_You can never hurt me again."_

Tori's voice rolled over the room in sorrowful waves. Swells of power rose up in her throat. Her voice was music, and grace, and the haunting feeling of knowing that her voice was brought out in a fit of rage, of pain. Despite the sombre tone of the song, all three girls had a large smile across their faces, like a lost part of them had just returned, shattering the barriers that held it back.

"Anyone else got a song?" Tori spoke up after the moments of silent pride that followed her singing, not wanting the feeling to pass.

* * *

Without so much as an introduction, Jade started to hum a tune, a soothing sound, dulcet tones creating a wordless melody. Next she opened her mouth to sing, letting the words moved like a river, flowing swift and strong.

(Song: Titanium by David Guetta.)

**Jade:**_"You shout it out_

_But I can't hear a word you say_

_I'm talking loud not saying much_

_I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet_

_You shoot me down, but I get up_

**Tori and ****Cat: **_I'm bulletproof nothing to lose_

_Fire away, fire away_

_Ricochet, you take your aim_

_Fire away, fire away_

**All: **_You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium_

_You shoot me down but I won't fall_

_I am titanium_

**Jade: **_Cut me down_

_But it's you who has further to fall_

_Ghost town, haunted love_

**Tori and ****Cat: **_Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones_

_I'm talking loud not saying much_

_I'm bulletproof nothing to lose_

_Fire away, fire away_

_Ricochet, you take your aim_

_Fire away, fire away_

**All: **_You shoot me down but I won't fall_

_I am titanium_

_You shoot me down but I won't fall_

_I am titanium, I am titanium_

**Jade: **_Stone-hard, machine gun_

_Firing at the ones who run_

_Stone-hard, thus bulletproof glass_

**Jade:**_You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium_

**Tori: **_You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium_

**Cat:**_You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium_

**All: **_You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium."_

* * *

Another sad song, and yet the girls were still amidst a feeling of joy, reveling in the control they had over their emotions and what was happening to them. Following the order, Cat opened her mouth and started to belt out the notes of another song. Clearly the pain from her ribs was causing her major discomfort as she pushed each breath out from her lungs, yet she sustain her singing as if she were at full strength.

(Song: Rise Up by Andra Day)

**Cat: **_"You're__ broken down and tired_

_Of living life on a merry go round_

_And you can't find the fighter_

_But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out_

_And move mountains_

_We gonna walk it out_

_And move mountains_

* * *

Following the suit of Tori's song, the two remaining girls joined in on the chorus, fueling the core of the music, sending it coursing through each of their veins.

* * *

**All: **_And I'll rise up_

_I'll rise like the day_

_I'll rise up_

_I'll rise unafraid_

_I'll rise up_

_And I'll do it a thousand times again_

_And I'll rise up_

_High like the waves_

_I'll rise up_

_In spite of the ache_

_I'll rise up_

_And I'll do it a thousands times again_

* * *

The 'ache' seemed to be the most hitting lyric of the song. The pain all three girls were feeling in the moment was truly something to sing about, to shout about. Not only the physical sores that littered their bodies, but the mental aches, pains of home-sickness, and fear. These were scars that may never heal, leaving them with permanent flashbacks of the events they'd witnessed.

* * *

**Cat:** _For you_

_For you_

_For you_

_For you_

* * *

Being the only one able to hit such high notes, Cat once again sang alone, though the pain it was causing her was clear, leaving the two others to sing the next part alone while she took a break.

* * *

**Jade and Tori: **_When the silence isn't quiet_

_And it feels like it's getting hard to breathe_

_And I know you feel like dying_

_But I promise we'll take the world to its feet_

_And move mountains_

_We'll take it to its feet_

_And move mountains_

**All: **_And I'll rise up_

_I'll rise like the day_

_I'll rise up_

_I'll rise unafraid_

_I'll rise up_

_And I'll do it a thousand times again_

**Cat: **_For you_

_For you_

_For you_

_For you_

**Jade and Tori: **_All we need, all we need is hope_

_And for that we have each other_

_And for that we have each other_

**All:**_ We will rise_

_We will rise_

_We'll rise, oh oh_

_We'll rise_

**Cat: **_I'll rise up_

_Rise like the day_

_I'll rise up_

_In spite of the ache_

_I will rise a thousands times again_

**All: **_And we'll rise up_

_Rise like the waves_

_We'll rise up_

_In spite of the ache_

_We'll rise up_

_And we'll do it a thousands times again_

**Cat: **_For you oh oh oh oh oh_

_For you oh oh oh oh oh_

_For you oh oh oh oh oh_

_For you."_

The three girls were practically breathless at the end of the song, panting like dogs after the lyrical acrobatics they'd just mastered. Falling back in pain, Cat let her body lay still against the mattress behind her. "Are you okay?" Tori said, panicked, rushing over to the red-head.

"Never better." Cat replied. Given the context, this comment may have seemed sarcastic, but the genuine smile plastered across the girl's face said otherwise. The singing really was something to smile about, the strength it fueled the girls with, the burst of adrenaline. It seemed as if Cat didn't regret the pain she'd caused herself by singing, just happy that she'd experienced the moment of joy.

Slowly, Tori and Jade laid on the mattress beside Cat, laying in the same position that they had adapted for sleep. Jade on the left, Cat in the middle and Tori on the right. Together they slowly drifted away into the land of unconscious dreams. A land where reality is nothing but a distant thought, a land where the world is calm and you are free, a land at peace.

None of them even had the energy to question why the Reatos never came into the basement, getting mad at them for singing.


	13. Chapter 13

The Next Morning, at the Gambino's HQ.

**(A/N there is some Italian in this chapter, I have given translations but just a head's up. I'm trying to learn Italian but I'm not that good at it yet, so these are just my best guesses at the phrasing/grammar. If anyone speaks it and has corrections then please leave it in a review. Thank you.)**

There was, however, some people who did know why the Reatos were acting the way they were. "They're plotting something." Spoke Leonardo Valentine, pacing back and forth in the main office of the Gambino Head Quarters whilst addressing a few of his highest ranking men. "This silence from them, it is worrying. When we attacked, we left them weak and separated, now I'm sure they are plotting to rebuild. We should have been more careful when we attacked, not letting them know of our approach. We could have my Catarina back by now!" He practicality yelled. "Oh, when I get my hands on them... Li ammazzo! Li ammazzo come loro hanno ammazzato fratello mio! Non troverai alcuna pietà in me. (_I'll kill them! I'll kill them like they killed my brother! You'll see no mercy from me.)". _His expression was vindictive from the prospect of revenge and death to his enemies.

"What should we do, Sir?" One of the highest ranking Gambino men spoke up to him.

"Keep searching of course!" Leonardo stated loudly. "Who knows how long it will be before they are back at their full force." He slammed his hand dramatically against the desk beside him for emphasis. "When will those bloody cops stop keeping such a close eye on those 3 boys so that we can question them?"

"I doubt they have any information Sir." Another man spoke up.

"I know this, I just want to know what happened to them, what happened to my Catarina, why they were trapped by those bastards." Leonardo spat back, the emotions were starting to poke through the cracks of his hard facade. "Ora vattene via, via, via! (_Now go! Go! Go!_)" He yelled to his men, not wanting them to see him in a weakened state.

Within moments, the men had left the room, shouting orders to each other of places to search for Cat and more techniques they could use to help find her. Leonardo was now left alone in his office, continuing to pace back and forth, practically treading a hole into the ground. In this moment he felt more regret then anything. All his life he had been a part of the Mafia, always on the side of strength and violence. Sure he had lost things before in his life, he'd lost his brother, but is daughter? His daughter who was out there somewhere, lost and scared, in the grasp of his arch enemy. But why regret? He was thinking back to all the people he'd kidnapped. They were people's husbands, sons, family. Sure, he'd never taken anyone so young, as innocent as Cat... but still... they were people.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his emotional volcano of a mindset. "Ho detto 'via!' Non vorrei che rimanessi." (_I said go! __I don't want to see anyone.__)" _He yelled at the unknown knocker.

"Neanche io sono tra i sospettati? (_Come on, not even me?_)" A calm feminine voice replied.

"Alessia." Leonardo addressed the woman. "Amore, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't stay at home." Alessia replied, walking into the room. The woman was about 40 years old, though from her appearance you wouldn't be able to guess her age. She had a kind of understated beauty, perhaps it was because she was so disarmingly unaware of her prettiness. Though that wasn't the first thing you'd think when you looked at her, that would be the look of sadness that engulfed her. Her emotions were not easily hidden on her pretty face. Her pain was evident in the crease of her lovely brow and the down-curve of her full lips. But her eyes, her eyes showed her soul. They were a deep pool of restless golden brown, an ocean of hopeless grief. Though there was a distinct hint of passion within them. Passion that turned her eyes into orbs of the brightest fire, and in them, it was clear she was the type to fight to the very last tear for her life. She would not let the world break her. Sure she could cry, but she would never let them take her true self from her. "Any signs of our daughter?" She asked hopefully.

"No." Leonardo replied quietly, slowly shaking his head. "We're trying though."

"The police are no closer either." Alessia sighed, walking towards her husband, placing her hands on his to calm him.

"They insist on talking to you still?" Leonardo replied.

"Unfortunately." She replied. "I don't know what help they think it brings. And they insist on talking to me along with the rest of the children's parents, it's near impossible to act all naive and innocent to these events."

"How are the other parent's coping?" He asked, generally intrigued by the state of the others involved in the similar situation.

"Jade's mother seems to have disappeared herself and her father seems more occupied with work. Poor girl, once they are found we must remember to offer something to her, from what I've heard from Cat in the past she's quite a smart girl, maybe she could be helpful."

"I'll consider it." Leonardo replied, motion for his wife to continue.

"Victoria or Tori- I'm not sure of the name, they keep changing it. Either way, her mother seems to flip between two personalities, firstly a sobbing wreck of a mother, secondly someone who is way too interested in the police officer."

"Isn't her husband a cop though?"

"Yes, but it's his partner she likes." Alessia commented, as if it were some high-school gossip. "Anyway, the three boy's mothers seem very intent in the police solving the crime, but I could tell that the sons have no faith in them."

"Did you speak to the boys?" Leonardo spoke up hopefully.

"Briefly, but I couldn't for long without seeming suspicious." She replied. "I did manage to get them to agreed to meet us at midnight tonight."

"Midnight?" Leonardo asked. "That's a strange time."

"The police have been constantly watching them, in case the kidnappers return. The only time they aren't being watched is the night."

"That's the police for you." Leonardo chuckled lightly. "Night time is the prime time for a kidnapping, and yet that is when they leave them unprotected? Idiots."

"Be nice to those boys Leo'." Alessia reminded.

"I am not going to hurt them, I promise. I simply want to know the truth." Leonardo told his wife. "No violence, nothing of the sort."

"Good." Alessia replied, quickly kissing her husband's lips. "Now though, I have to get back to our son."

"Yes, Matteo needs you." Leonardo replied.

"I pray every day that he gets better." Aleissia mumbled, referring to the mental disorders their son was cursed with.

"One day he will, I promise." Leonardo said to her. "One day things will all be right. We will have Catarina back, Matteo will be back to his old ways, and those Reatos will be gone."

"One day." She repeated back to him.

* * *

At Midnight

Beck POV

I was very tired, it was nearly midnight. The minute I stood up from my bed, I felt like dropping back onto it and sleeping instantly. However, instead of complaining I just rubbed the sleep from my eyes, focusing them on the room around me. It felt weird to wake up in my childhood bedroom, being used to sleeping in the RV that I brought in Freshman year, but my parents insist I sleep in the house again. 'It's safer' they say 'no one can break in' they say. I swear, they're more scared then I am. But then again, I know that the only reason we were taken the first time was because of Cat, not that I blame her of course, but no one would want or need to take me again. That, however, didn't stop the crowded thoughts running through my mind, trying to convince me that I was unsafe and that staying at home would be better. I had to go out though, I just had to.

Opening my bedroom door, I checked the hallway and turned off the lights, no sign of my parents. I tip toed past the hallway and towards the door, slipping on my shoes and picking up my keys so that I'd be able to get back in again later. Every movement was slow and cautious, if my parents caught me sneaking out I'd be in serious trouble, and saying 'I was only going out to see a Mafia boss' wouldn't calm them at all.

I was out, and it was dark outside. The only light coming from a street lamp but even that was a dim and gloomy yellow light. I walked down the driveway towards my car, trying too resist the urge to looking around to see if there was anyone watching me. It was near impossible to shove aside the worries corrupting my mind, the nagging thought that someone was out to get me again.

Putting the key in the ignition, I pulled the car into gear, heading to Cat's house, where her mother had told me, Andre and Robbie to meet up. I'd been to Cat's house like 20 times to drop her off after school, but I'd never been inside, weird that I'd never realised this before.

God only knows what could be inside.

Maybe it's some mafia head quarters, full of guns and men and- no you idiot, it's a house, why would all of that stuff be in their living space? They'll have somewhere else to do all of that.

* * *

No POV

All three boys arrived at the same time, even Robbie on his bike. "You really need to get a car Dude." Andre joked as he shut his car door.

"Yeah..." Robbie replied distantly. He hadn't been the same since before the kidnapping. Sure, it had deeply affected all of the boys, but Beck and Andre had always been better at masking their emotions then Robbie.

"Come on." Beck cut in, walking towards the front door of the house. There was the slight hum of a moving security camera tracking their movement toward the house, though none of the boys were paying enough attention to hear it. Beck raised his fist up to the wooden door, the knock came quietly and then there was silence. You couldn't even hear the footsteps approaching the door until it was open. Stood there was a boy, the only way to describe him was someone with all the height of a man but none of the bulk. There were muscles under his shirt, but not the bulky kind men can get from years of weight lifting. From his frame he could've been anywhere in his late teens to early thirties, but when he turned that face was all boy. He was lit up with that grin boys wear when they have something mischievous planned. His dark hair flopped over his eyes in the way no office worker could get away with and on his wrist were bracelets in woven leather.

Beck was briefly unsure whether they were at the correct house, until he noticed the dimple on his left cheek. He was Cat's brother. "Who're you?" The boy asked. His voice was much higher than expected, adding to the question of what age this boy was.

"Beck, Andre and Robbie." Beck introduced. "Your parents will know who we are."

"That doesn't answer my question." The boy replied bluntly.

"We're Cat's friends." Andre added.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT CATTY!" Cat's brother screamed suddenly, slamming the door in the boys faces. The sound of heavy footsteps running away could be heard through the door.

"What the-" Beck started, before the door reopened.

"I'm sorry about that-" Cat's mother said as she opened the door, inviting them in. "-he got to the door first."

"That's alright." Beck replied, knowing of Cat's brother's problems.

The three boys walked into the house and Alessia guided them to the living room. The whole interior exhibit an alluring Mediterranean charm that was hard to miss. In most houses in LA there were just to clean lines, simple and mostly white; yet these walls were all burnt oranges and reds. The furniture was rustic and dark, sprinkled liberally with vibrant cushions. Along the walls were more photographs than wall-paint. Every one was of a happy memory, a smiling child, a birthday, a holiday away, all pictures of Cat her family from different ages. I couldn't help but smile at the pictures of a tiny Cat, dark brown curly hair, smiling ear to ear. Anyone walking in would never guess that it was the home of a Mafia boss, but I guess that's the point, keep things secret.

She explained to the boys that Leonardo would join them shortly, and that she had to go upstairs to check on her son. After the boys quickly apologised, Alessia assured them they did no wrong, before walking up the staircase and out of sight.

"How cute are all these photos." Andre spoke up to the other two boys, to break the silence. "I never knew there was a possibility of Cat being any smaller than she is right now."

"Ha!" Beck chuckled at his joke, nudging Robbie with his elbow, snapping his brain back into focus.

"Yeah.. sure." He replied coldly, trying to look anywhere but the photos that littered the room. It was clear that the photos were only reminding him that she was gone, that she wasn't safe.

"We'll get her back Rob'." Beck reassured his curly-haired friend. "We found a way out, and they're way smarter than we are."

"Boys!" Leonardo greeted, walking into the room. "You look well."

"Considering last time you saw us we hadn't had a shower, or eaten properly, in like 2 weeks; I'd certainly hope so." Beck joked lightly.

"That is true." He replied. "Now I'm presuming you all want to return home quickly, so we'll do this fast. Tell me everything about the kidnapping. When you were taken, how you were taken, where you were kept, what happened, how you were treated."

"E...everything?" Beck stuttered, remembering the state Cat was left in after a beating he had to watch.

"Yes everything." Leonardo said coldly. "All interrogation techniques, every inch of inflicted pain. The more you tell me, the better, because that way I'll know how much pain to inflict on them."

"They'll barely be breathing then." Robbie mumbled.

"I guess It all started when we were leaving Nozu's..." Andre began, recounting the story of the last few weeks of their lives. The boys each took turns in explaining each detail, and there were a lot of details (enough to fit into 12 chapters to be precise). Every few minutes or so, Leonardo would have to leave the room to take in the new information, not wanting to show his emotion toward the boys. The worst of these reactions was when Beck told him about Cat's beating, both Beck and Leonardo were in near tears as he talked and Andre and Robbie could barely think past their rage. There was at least a 10 minutes silence after Beck finished that part of the tragic tale.

None of the boys where sure of how they were helping to find the girls by telling Leonardo this, but when they left at nearly 2am, he reassured them that they had been a great aid. As the door shut, they swore they could hear Leonardo break down into sobs, though they were too tired to turn back, just longing their beds, praying the nightmares didn't come for them tonight.

* * *

With the Girls

Nightmares were not something that only the boys suffered with, the traumatic experiences leaving a harsh mental scar on all of the unfortunate teens, girls included. In the days since they were taken, flashbacks of the fighting and struggling haunted their nights, refueling the gut-wrenching fear and terror. For Cat and Beck, the flashbacks of Cat's torture seemed to be the most predominant of their unpleasant dreams that controlled their nights.

This particular night contained, what could easily be argued as, Cat's worst nightmare to ever grace her young life. Nearly every night so far, she'd experienced at least slight unpleasantries during her sleep, ranging from a short hallucination of the Reato's mocking laughs to a full blown horror scene of unfathomable violence. Always the same, always just as frightful: a pitch black basement; leaving her blind as if her eyes had been gouged out. The only light coming from set of stairs in the corner of the room leading to an open door. Every time she tried to go up them, her foot would fall each one like it was a mere projection. Then men would appear, and the pain would begin. First her ribs, next her arm, then her back, and face, and just every inch of her short frame...

A loud call of her name startled Cat out of her most recent abysmal nightmare. Her cheeks were wet and her body was bathed in a cold sweat. She'd pulled her sling off her arm and hit Jade's body multiple times because she was thrashing in her sleep. Her heart pounded against her chest. The basement was entirely dark. No light anywhere. The remnants of her nightmare still clung to her mind, haunting her. Cat had no trouble imagining torturers lurking in the murky darkness of the room. "Cat?" The voice repeated, quieter this time. Cat let out a frightened cry and bolted into an more upright position. Even her breaths trembled. She swallowed and once again turned to see the endless darkness of her room. She couldn't see anything. "Cat, it's me, Jade." The voice said. The red-head squinted into the darkness, her eyes finally focusing on the other girl. "You were having a nightmare, it sounded really bad. Are you-"

"I'm fine." Cat replied before Jade could even finish her question.

"You were crying out in your sleep Cat-" Jade said back. "You aren't fine."

"I am." Cat replied coldly.

"Was it about what the Reatos did?" Jade pushed, ignoring Cat's blunt response.

"...yeah." Cat mumbled, looking down in defeat. The eyes that were once filled with so much purpose and love was now replaced with fear and uneasiness. "I just... they... I..." There was a distance in Cat's voice as she shuffled a few passes backwards, bumping into the wall like she wasn't expecting it. Her head rolled with the impact, eyes glazed. Her voice came out thin and distant, "Its.. the... hurts... flashbacks.. Jadey... help" She was breathing all wrong, beginning to gasp like there wasn't enough oxygen in the air. Tension grew in her face and limbs, her mind replaying the attack. Her breathing became more rapid, more shallow.

"Cat." Jade repeated, slowly shuffling towards the girls. "You're okay now, they won't hurt you. You're down here, they're up there. You're away from them."

"They... can't... hurt...me." Cat repeated through each gasp. "I'm away... from them."

"Exactly." Jade said. She wasn't a stranger to the nightmares life's traumas had brought, and even she had to admit that someone being there to comfort her was always the best treatment. Usually Beck was her rock, she'd call him in the middle of the night and he'd drive over to her house and sit with her until she fell asleep. In less serious instances, like a bad lesson at school, Cat would always run over to her with open arms and engulf her into a tight hug. Jade would always pretend that she hated them, but deep down they were one of her favourite things and always made her feel better.

Copying the red-head's ways, Jade very slowly made her way over to the hyperventilating girl, careful to not alert or scare her further. Each moment was slow and clear, as she wrapped an arm around Cat's shoulders and lightly pulled her close, gently rubbing her arm. Despite the heaviness in Cat's stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against Jade's. She sunk into the warmth of her side, appreciative of the simple gesture. Jade's touch made the room warmer somehow, her future within its walls seeming a little less bleak. Her breathing slowed down, her eyes re-focused and thoughts cleared. "Thank you." Cat mumbled to the older girl, her head rested on her shoulder.

"You'd do the same for me." Jade replied truthfully. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

"Can we stay like this?" Cat asked.

"Of course."


	14. Chapter 14

5 Days Later 

With the girls

It had been a quite few days since the girls had last seen or heard from the Reatos, apart from when they were given their food. There was no interrogations, no fights, no inflicted pain, no sound, no nothing. Until now Cat had seemingly known the reason behind every action, but this silence was just bizarre to her. "I think they're planning something or rebuilding their force." Was all she could think of, though that idea wasn't backed with too much thought.

"What'd you think they're 'planning' then?" Tori asked the red-head.

"What to do with us." Cat replied bluntly.

"And what would that be?" Jade pushed.

"Anything. They might be finding another place to hold us, or maybe someone to sell us to."

"Sell us?!" Tori near yelled, confused by how calm Cat was with her words.

"They're probably too scared to keep us." Cat replied, her voice becoming distant.

"Where would they sell us too?" Tori asked, her voice filled with worry. "And what for?!"

"I'm... I'm not going to answer that Tori." Cat replied, not wanting to think about the cruel possibility. "Anyway, that's just an idea. For all we know they're planning a holiday." She added to try and lighten the mood.

Her attempts were futile though. She's already said too much, and now Jade and Tori were shaking like leaves. Cat had been living with the idea that they might be sold since they were first taken... though Jade and Tori hadn't and now it was hitting them like a truck.

"I won't let it come to that." Cat spoke up to them. "I know how to deal with this stuff-"

"That's the thing though!" Jade yelled suddenly. "You shouldn't know about this. You shouldn't need to know. We shouldn't be here!" This was it, Jade had really snapped. I mean she wasn't particularly happy until now, but this new information seemed to really hit her and now she was truly shaken up.

"I know Jade, we shouldn't be here, but don't you think I'm trying to get us out!" Cat snapped

"Guys-" Tori tried to interrupt, her small voice easily overhauled by the other two.

"Well clearly it isn't working!" Jade yelled back at Cat, slowly edging closer towards her. "Because, in case you haven't noticed, we're still suck in here! And telling us the fucked up thoughts that are going through your brain about what could happen to us, isn't helping!"

"I'm just telling you the truth! It's not my fault you hadn't realised that yet. Did you honestly think they'd keep us forever? Once they've got that they want, we'll be killed or sold. What did you think was going to happen?!"

"I was trying not to-"

A sudden gunshot cracked into the air as loud as thunder - a noise that heralded death and destruction. A bullet pushing through the air with great speed, barreling towards it's target. A spit second action of Cat yanking Jade to the side, the bullet shooting past the older girl's face, only inches away from causing serious damage. The two girls fell into a heap on the floor as they lost balance over the quick movement, grunts of pain being produced as they collide with the hard floor. This was followed by the sudden movement of their heads snapping towards the basement door, to Michael, stood atop the dysfunction staircase, gun in hand, a tired and vindictive look plastered upon his face.

"E QUESTO PER CHE DIAMINE ERA?! (_What the hell was that for?!)_" Cat screamed at him, quickly getting to her feet.

"You woke me." Michael spat tiredly.

"It's night time?" Tori mumbled to herself. Being trapped in a basement without a sense of time was severely disorientating, but the girls thought they knew that it was day time from their sleeping patterns, if they were wrong then it'd really mess with their brains.

"It's not." Michael replied, somehow able to hear her from the top of the staircase.

"The why were you sleeping?" She asked, it somehow slipping her mind that this really was not the time for chit-chat.

"All important business happens at night." He said slowly. "Remember what time you were taken?" A small smirk appeared on his face.

"You didn't kidnap other people did you?" Jade cut in, her firsts clenching at her sides.

"What?" Michael replied quizzically. "We've been going to-" He quickly cut himself off. "I nearly told you then. That wouldn't have been good."

"Told us what?" Cat tried to push him for an answer.

"Do you really think that would work Valentine?" Michael chuckled to himself. "You're really not that smart are you." And that was the last thing he said before locking the door and walking out of the room.

"And there's my daily reminder that guns are powerful." Jade commented to herself. "Thanks for pulling me out of the way Cat."

"Yeah, yeah sure." Cat replied distantly as if she wasn't even listening to Jade. She was staring blankly at the wall, her eyes unfocused and slightly squinted, brows furrowed.

"What ya thinking about Cat?" Tori spoke up, nudging the red-head.

"He said 'we'." She replied bluntly, still in deep thought.

"And?" Jade interrupted.

"'We've been going'. Him and at least one other person, maybe a group of people, have been leaving at night, maybe even all night." Cat replied, snapping herself back into reality.

"Once again, and?" Jade said.

"Think about it." Cat encouraged.

"I am and I seriously don't know what you're getting at here Cat."

"They've leaving us alone here at night!" Tori spoke up, understand what Cat was hinting.

"Exactly!" Cat replied, glad Tori understood. "I mean, I don't know quiet how many people are upstairs, but from the amount that put us into the van, it's not that many, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were all going with the Reatos. Either way, this is the best stop we've got at escaping."

"Wait... you mean tonight?"

"Tonight." Cat repeated. "Without anyone here, we don't have to be quite, so we can kick the door down to get out.

"We're getting out of here!" Tori beamed.

"Shhh!"

"Sorry."


	15. Chapter 15

Tori POV

Even after being trapped for so long, I still find the darkness strange. Living in the heart of a city all my life, I've grown used to having the warming, orange glow of streetlamps outside my window, their light filtering in through the gaps in the curtains. Now though in this black box, we only have one small bulb, which Jade turned off like we do every night before we sleep. Of course we aren't going to sleep tonight, but leaving it on may make the Reatos suspicious of us.

Sat upright on the mattress, we're all listening out for any sign of movement above us. This is crucial for our plan, if anyone's up there then we would be caught and just sent back down here again or worse, killed. This is our only shot. We can't mess this up.

"I.. I think it's all clear." Cat spoke up after about half an hour of listening to nothingness.

"We all ready then?" I spoke up.

"Sure, let me just grab my bags." Jade said dryly, motioning to the empty room. Of course she'd go with the sarcastic response.

"Everyone know the plan?" Cat asked.

"Kick down door. Grab food from upstairs. Run." Jade repeated a very simplified version of our plan, it was obvious she was very very eager to get out.

"Let's go then." Cat replied.

As quickly as the dishevelled stairs would let us, we all made it to the door. Within mere moments, Jade studied the wooden door and cocked her leg upwards, driving the heel of her foot into the door. The wood quickly splintered and with another swift, forceful, kick the door swung open, crashing into the wall behind it with an unholy bang.

"Damn." I mumbled under my breath, impressed with her skill.

"Come on." Cat said, hurrying us through the door.

The human instinct to know where I was kicked in, and suddenly my eyes were scanning every inch of the new room. It seemed to be the hallway, similar to one you'd imagine seeing in an long-abandoned house. Everything was covered with a thick layer dust that looked like it has been untouched for years, and the wallpaper was more peeled off then covering.

"What're you doing up here?!" A deep voice spoke up. All three of us spun around to be faced a man that looked like everyone and no-one. He had the kind of brown hair most other's had, a nondescript face without any distinct features or blemishes. He wasn't either tall or short enough to think about his height; he wasn't fat or thin enough to note his weight or build. "You shouldn't be up here. How'd you get out?" He wasn't very bright either, missing the obviously open door.

I felt Cat step forward beside me, ready to knock the guy out, but with her broken bones she stood no chance. Jade seemed to have the same idea, as she lightly pulled Cat backwards. The man in front of us was still stood there with an icy glare, presuming that we'd just walk back into the basement, but we weren't going to back down that easily. Jade stepped forward, like Cat had attempted to, and looked straight at the man. In that frozen second between stand off and fighting I saw their eyes flicker to meet each others, cold glares. Their faces were unreadable, no fear, no invitational smirk. Slowly, Jade walked forward with her signature glare and, just how she did before with the door, cocked up her leg and kicked him square in the stomach. For a middle-aged man, he sure went down easily, falling straight onto the floor, clearly winded. All Jade had to do now was walk to where his head was, and kick again at his temple. It was grim to watch, but it was the fastest way to knock him out.

"You think there's anyone else?" She spoke up, looking down pitifully at the man.

"No." Cat shook her head. "I think he was only here to keep guard out, and he clearly wasn't very good at it."

"I feel kinda bad." I mumbled. "He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt us."

"He's on their side. That's literally his job." Cat said bluntly, turning on her heel and walking away.

We quickly continued to move through the house, kicking up more dust until it was difficult to see through the billions of particles that swirled in the air. It is easy to say that abandoned houses tend to creak, not in the creepy horror movie kind of a way, generally speaking, but more of in the "oh shit, I should probably get out of here before this thing collapses on me" kind of a way. This was a house that had you hesitant to even step through the doorway. I questioned why the Reatos would chose to hold us in a place like this if they had to stay there themselves.

At the end of the corridor was a small, cluttered and dusty kitchen. The cupboards were faded green with white flowers and handles. The counters were a dark green, black and white marble with a coat of thick grey dust hugging it. It didn't seem like somewhere to hold food, and it made me feel ill to think about it being where my food had come from.

"Grab all you can." Cat spoke up. "Food and knives, we might need to fight. I'll look around the house quickly, call me back when you're done." She quickly walked out of the room to find anything else we could use.

I started to rip open the cupboard for any food, grabbing the small amount held within them. I took a butter knife and slid it up my sleeve for later. It wasn't the steak knife I'd been hoping for, but given enough force behind it into some soft region and would get the job done.

* * *

Within mere minutes, Jade and I had grabbed all the food we could fit into the backpack that Cat had found in one of the other rooms, along with a gun and a small amount of money in case we found a payphone. We'd decided that Cat should take the gun, Jade the butter knife and I'd take the bag. It wasn't much, but hopefully we wouldn't need to fight.

"Let's go then." Cat spoke up.

We started to move towards the main door and pushed it open, revealing our first view of the outside world since we'd been taken from Nozus. I was expecting some great sense of relief to see the outside world, a roaring city where we could just step outside and easily find a phone to call for help. However, that was not the case, we were instead greeted by a dense, dark forest, the bare branches of trees spiking high into the sky - no sign of life to be found anywhere.

"Where do you think we are?" Jade thought aloud, slowly walking out into the forest. "'Cause something's telling me we aren't in LA anymore."

"Definitely not." Cat replied. "But I don't think we've left California, we're probably just in the North."

"How'd you know that?" I asked.

"The atmosphere's still warm." Cat said back. "And-"

"Not that I don't want the Geography lesson-" Jade cut in rudely. "but we're kinda in the middle of something."

"Right, yeah." Cat replied, bringing herself back to reality. "We'd better run, I don't know how long we've got until they come back."

"That way then?" Jade said, pointing to the opening between the trees and dirt track leading out, clearly how the Reatos had been driving to and from the house.

"No chance." Cat shook her head. "They'll expect us to go that way and it'll be easier for them to find us 'cause it gives them a way to drive."

"But it'll reach some form of town." I tried to interrupt.

"We'll be safer if we go another way." Cat decided for us. "Come on." She encouraged. Jade and I sighed simultaneously before nodding in acknowledgement, and all three of us bolted into the forest together, in the opposite direction to the dirt track.

As I ran, I began drinking in the feedback of all my senses. Aside from our noisy breath and pounding feet there was nothing to be heard and the woods were simply too dark to see much at all. Black trunks against an almost black backdrop didn't make for much too see, the only thing keeping me on track was the blur of Jade and Cat in front of me, dodging the wooden trunks as they ran. I could already feel my lungs burning as I gasped for air and my vision blurring, though I kept running. I had to.

We all did. We keep running and running, at least an half an hour passed and we were somehow still moving, my feet dragging noisily on the carpet of lifeless leaves, each step triggering a rush of pain in my chest. Tree branches still stretched out in front of us, forming a cavern of distorted limbs that seemed to reach out and grab my flesh. The vile pain spreading throughout my chest like a deadly infection and my lungs beseeched me to stop. My knees felt like rubber after running constantly and now I gulped selfish breaths of air. Helpless, I stopped, falling to my knees. In spite of my feeble condition, my lips curled into a smile as the realization that I had escaped finally struck me.

"Let's... stop... here." Jade panted, falling to the floor beside me, her clothes and long black hair clinging to her form, no different that if she run through a rain-storm

"Agreed." Cat added, doing the same.

The three of us laid there for quiet a few moments, wheezing as our burning lungs gasped for air. Our legs feel numb and unsteady, painfully sore. Unable to go on. No people, not anywhere in this forest, there weren't even houses... maybe we were still trapped.

* * *

Cat POV

After everything we've just been through, laying on the floor of the forest was pretty much a luxury. With my head tilted skyward I could see clearly millions of bright stars dotted on the black canvas of night, yet none of that light seemed to filter far enough down to make any difference when I turned my eyes away. Jade and Tori were beside me, their breathing so loud that it's almost deafening. I was trying so hard to take shallow breaths, no matter how suffocating it was, because every movement of my chest sent another spike of pain through my body. Man, I couldn't wait until we found our way out of that forest so I could go to a hospital and fix those broken bones. I wondered if they could even be fixed at that point. I turned my head back to the sky to re-focus on the inky blanket above, the best way to calm my spinning brain.

"_We're finally free."_ I thought to myself, a small smile sneaking across my face. Despite the pain I was in, I was now more full of hope then ever before, all we had to do was keep walking and we'd be away from it all

"Want me to re-adjust your sling?" Jade asked. I looked down to see that my sling was once again, barely keeping my broken arm up.

"Yes please." I replied.

She walked over to me and undid the jumper sleeves tied behind my head. "Does it hurt still?" Jade asked, carefully holding my arm in position as she re-tied it.

"So much." I replied through slightly clenched teeth. The healing process had been so painful, the bone wasn't in the right place and yet it was still trying to patch itself up. My skin was practically green with bruising and I couldn't even move my wrist.

"And your ribs?" She asked.

"Every breath is like I'm being stabbed." I replied honestly.

"We'll find a hospital soon." She reassured me.

"Let's hope." I replied. "You okay Tori?" I asked her, still laying on the ground, her breathing seemed to have regulated but she just didn't want to get up.

"Yeah." She mumbled, finding her way to her feet.

"We'll set up here for the night then." I suggested "The trees are dense enough to offer concealment and we're too far for the Reatos to easily find us now. We'll start moving again at sunrise."

"Sounds like a plan." Tori replied tiredly.

I felt this blackness come over me. Like a blanket, but not a blanket of warmth but a blanket of coldness making me shiver. But somehow it made my eyes feel heavier and heavier. I finally closed my eyes, sending me into a dreamless sleep, curled up beside some bushes on the floor of a forest under the stars, praying that we wouldn't be found.


	16. Chapter 16

Jade POV

In the days since we were taken, insomnia is the companion that won't quit. Time has taken on a different form, more plentiful than ever it was before, more quiet moments to think about the awful situation I was trapped in. I just felt too unsafe to let my guard down and become vulnerable in the world of unconsciousness, not to mention the fact that the floor was not a very comfortable place to sleep. When I finally did sleep I woke after only a couple of fitful hours as if a whole night had passed, but it hasn't. I wish I could be one of those people who roll over and doze off but I couldn't. I could either lie still in place, waiting for the dawn chorus, or I could get up. Usually, I take the former, the small trapping rooms leaving nothing to explore, but in an open forest I practically jumped at the opportunity to look around and relish in my freedom.

I made sure to not wander too far from Tori and Cat, not wanting to leave them vulnerable in the darkness, and listened out for any possible dangers. After a minute or two the sound of running water penetrated my thoughts. I was near a brook. A brook would clean me off, remove the layer of dirt and sweat that had clung to my skin due to a lack of cleaning. A small smile started to creep across my face in relief and I started strained my ears for the sound of the water, working out the direction I needed to go in, deducing that it was coming from my left.

Using the flashlight to guide my way through the before-dawn atmosphere. I could see the river, but it was barely a trickle, barely a stream moving listlessly over the stones. There was no wading over it, no swimming, no jumping in, I could step across it and still have dry feet. "Great." I mumbled to myself sarcastically, ungracefully sitting on to the ground beside it.

I'm unsure how long I was sat there for, I may have even fallen asleep for a moment or two, but once my thoughts came back to me, something beautiful caught my eye. The yellow shining sun started rising from the ground. It was bright and mesmerising as it inviting me to stare, deep into the horizon. Mellow blues and pinks blurred together in a silver mist to create a gorgeous scene, pushing past the towering trees to reach my eyes. Even when the world seemed dark and filled with hardship, the sky remained beautiful. A sudden optimistic thought manifested into my brain, something foreign compared to my usual darkened ones- if the sky remained vivid and powerful, then so could I. My brain was now filling with thoughts of positivist and hope, a true belief that we'd get out okay and that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, all triggered by a simple sunset. There wasn't enough water to clean me off yet, but when we started walking again we could follow it along, it had to have a bigger source, we could just clean off there.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice spoke up beside me. Quickly, I jumped to my feet, ready to pounce on the intruder, to protect my friends from them and- oh it's just Cat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She added.

"It's alright, I was just deep in thought." I replied. "And yes, it is beautiful."

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked.

"Not really." I shrugged. "I found water." I motioned to the small brook beside us.

"I see." Cat replied. "If we follow it we'll-"

"Find the source." I finished. "I know."

"Should we wake Tori, eat something and then start walking again?" She suggested.

"Sit with me for a while." I said bluntly. "Watch the sun, it's peaceful."

"But we-"

"It'll make you forget." I encouraged. Reluctantly, she walked closer to me and sat on the ground beside me, looking out into the sky. "Remember when you'd beg me to do things like this, and now it's my turn."

"'Remember'? Jade that was only like a few weeks ago." She replied, remembering the last time she'd told me to do just sit down and relax, one lunchtime after I'd received a bad test score in class.

"I know, but it feels like so much has changed, you're practically a whole new person. You aren't hyper, or ditsy."

"When we're safe, I'll probably change back." She said quietly.

"Really?" I asked. "I thought it was an act."

"A little." I admitted. "But it's fun to be carefree, I kinda miss it."

"I miss the old you too." I replied, slowly leaning closer to her and resting my head on her shoulder.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said quietly, mimicked her old catchphrase, a small smile on her face.

"Never thought I'd miss that."

"The mood swings did make that annoying." She replied.

"Yeah, where they real or fake?"

Cat suddenly started laughing to herself. "You really thought they were real?"

"What can I say, you're a good actress." I shrugged off, trying to hide my shock that her rapid mood changes were in fact an act.

A few moments of silence followed, Cat and I just intensely staring at the beautiful sunrise. The tranquility was mesmerising, especially after everything that's happened. Of course I had to ruin it, not on purpose of course, my stomach just decided it wanted to growl.

"Come on." Cat said. "We'll go and wake Tori, then share some of the food from the backpack." Nodding in agreement, I stood up and we wandered back to where Tori was sleeping, curled up slightly, with her head rested on the backpack. "Tori." She nudged the sleeping girl. "Tori."

I expected her to wake slowly, eyes fluttering open as she sat upright. I didn't expect her to wake like she was hooked up the mains. No sleepiness, no slow warming up. Within seconds of realizing she was unconscious she was on my feet, eyes wide, dreams not just forgotten but erased. She jumped up so fast she knocked Cat backwards, I'd only just about managed to catch her from falling onto her butt.

"Jesus Christ, Vega." I announced.

"S...sorry." She mumbled, realising where she was. "You scared me."

"It's alright." Cat said. "We're all a bit on edge. Come on let's eat."

We pulled open the backpack, emptying its contents onto the forest floor. I hadn't really checked what I was shoving into it when we were at the house, but it was certainly merge. Just a box of crackers, bread, cheese and water. "Seems like the Reatos were eating out." I commented.

"We can't be too far from somewhere then." Tori spoke up.

"Unless we went in the wrong direction." I mumbled.

"Too late to go back now." Cat replied. "Let's have a few slices of bread each."


	17. Chapter 17

Michael's POV

Last night was rough. We (meaning me, my father and the few men who have stuck around) have been trying to gather help from other gang leaders for the last week, and last night was our 3rd rejection. In fact, they threatened to set the Gambinos onto us. How dare they have the guts to do that? We could crush them, well once we'd gathered a few more men. But still, crush them.

I still cannot fathom how many men we'd lost when the Gambinons attacked. I didn't realise the loyalty levels were that low... how quickly they fled was just shocking. They were cowards and we will get our revenge on them also. For now though, I just want to get into my bed, despite it being early in the morning.

Opening the door to the dusty place we've been staying, just until we can find a more suitable place to hold Catarina and her friends, I walked in with my father and my men in tow. "I'll gather their food." I yawned, stumbling my way to the kitchen. It was more dishevelled then I remember leaving it, but I didn't pay much notice to it. Next, I opened the door to the cupboard where i had been keeping the food to feed the girls, just some bread and cheese. They were lucky that they were eating. "Huh." I said to myself, discovering that the cupboard was empty. I knew I would run out eventually, but I had enough for at least another day or two. "Who ate from the cupboard?!" I called out to my men, storming back into the main room, where they were all preparing to lay on their makeshift floor beds.

"You've been with us all day Boss." One man replied.

"Maybe it was Dean." Another added, referring to the man we'd left to guard the girls over night. He wasn't the smartest of men, so eating it is something he would do. To be honest he's _really_ not smart and we shouldn't have left him alone, but he is my cousin- unfortunately- and I felt the need to give him a 'job'.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Probably still watching the girls." The man replied.

"I'll go check." I sighed. It's like we have to baby him.

Walking out of the room again, I headed to the hallway, distantly hearing one of my men ask where his gun was. Once again, I brushed it off and walked over to Dean's station, a chair near the basement door. When I reached it, however, I discovered that Dean was not sat on his chair, but instead laying beside it.

"Sleeping on your shift are you?" I spat, pulling him to his feet and slapping him across the face, bringing him back to the world.

"S...sleeping?" He mumbled as his eyes fluttered open.

"Yes. You fell asleep." I replied slowly. "Man you're stupid. Did you also eat the food from the cupboard?"

"What? No." He replied dumbly. "And I wasn't sleeping."

"You clearly where-" I shot back. "-as I just caught you laying down." My anger levels starting to rise slightly.

"Nu-huh." He said childishly. "I was knocked non-conscious by a girl."

"A girl?" I asked slowly. Maybe he did hit it head.

"The dark haired girl. From the basement." He said.

"The basement?" I turned my head towards the basement door. The open basement door. "Oh, merda! _(Oh, crap!)"_ I yelled, rushing to look through the door. The room was empty. The girls were gone. That was the breaking point of my patience. At that moment, I was blinded by a five-course serving of rage that tasted so very bitter. Spinning on my heel; I reached out. I went to punch him in the face. When my fist came in contact he fell to the ground wailing in pain, as I tried to shake the aching after taste, upon the taste buds of my hand. Much like coffee, its bitterness drew me in to take another sip knowing I would be more awake than minutes before. I tackled him and held him down so he could not fight back. I seriously doubted he could've anyway as my fists continued to hit his face. I felt guilty, but I couldn't stop. Catarina's capture was all we had. And now she was gone. And it was his fault.

Seeing his unconscious frame gave me enough satisfaction. He'll probably bleed out, to the hell with being cousins. He's dead to me. I ran out of the room and yelled at my men to get into action. We had to go find those girls, and we had to go quickly. We bundled into the vans that we'd driven here with, and took off onto the dirt path, looking out of the vehicles for the sight of them. They have to have gone that way. They couldn't be far.


	18. Chapter 18

With the girls

Cat POV

We'd followed the stream for the better part of an hour and, slowly but surely, the small flow of water expanded, meeting a much wider river. It was now a wide ribbon of living turquoise, boldly flowing amid the green of the forest, deep enough to wade in and the current not too strong as to take anyone in it down stream.

"Here's good." I announced, stopping by the side of the river. "I can't stand feeling dirty anymore."

"Me too." Tori agreed, pulling off the backpack and placing it beside me. "I can't wait to get in and clean off."

Quickly, we all stripped off our shirts, trousers, socks and shoes; laying them on the ground as to not get them wet. Tori and Jade helped me to remove the elastic bandage around my torso and my make-shift arm sling, I couldn't help but wince in pain at every movement I made without them, but it would be worse if they got wet. Each breath I took was stomach churning, I could feel my broken ribs moving as my lungs expanded underneath them. I don't know what I would have done without that bandage keeping them in place, and I was extremely lucky to even get it.

I'm so focused on the pain that I don't even notice I'm in the river until I'm ankle-deep. It's flowing slowly, and blissfully cool. I sit down in it, my back resting against the bank. I plunge my hand into the shallow water, brought it up to my face and feel instant relief. I bathe the dirt and grease from my face and hair. My sore arm is held tightly to my chest, trying to keep it still and supported without the sling, it is in need of attention, but I still can't look at it. The last time I did I could see my bone bulging through against the skin, and chances are it's not healed over much since. Reluctantly, I look down and almost faint at the sight of my arm, even after all this time, it's still bad. But I think it's not too bad to soak. Gingerly I lower my arm into the water, resting it just on the water level doesn't get too sodden, and sigh, because this does offer some relief. I know there are herbs I could find in the forest, but I can't quite call them to mind and chances are they aren't here. Water and time are all I have to work with. I really can't wait until we find a hospital.

Slowly, I pushed myself slightly away from the bank and laid my head back into the water, using my good arm to brush through my hair under the water. Sure, I didn't have any shampoo, conditioner, or even soap, but I certainly felt cleaner already. The sound of running water in the river had a relaxing, hypnotic quality, I wanted to stop and stay there forever, for time to stand still.

Pulling my head back above the water, I look over to Jade and Tori who are playfully pushing water towards each other, and I can't help but smile. No matter how much they want to be enemies, this situation really has changed them and I'd certainly call them friends.

"Jade!" Tori yelled childishly after the Jade sent a surprising amount of water crashing into her.

"Jade!" Jade mocked, using that southern-bell accent which she uses to impersonate Tori. "I can't believe you got water on me while I'm standing in a river!"

"Oh shut up." Tori replied, half joking half serious, sending water back at Jade.

"You two having fun there?" I cut in, giggling to myself. Jade and Tori quickly exchanged a look, small smirks spreading across their faces. "What?" I asked in reaction to their expressions. Simultaneously, Jade and Tori stuck out their arms, pushing a large wave of water towards me. "Ek!" I braced myself as the cold water crashed into my body, pushing me backwards a few paces. There wasn't much force behind their push but seeings as I tripped over a rock while I was stumbling, I went crashing straight back into the water, falling straight under the surface.

"Hahaha!" Jade and Tori both broke into laughter at my fall.

"Hey! I could've got hurt!" I yelled after pulling myself back up above water, slightly annoyed at them. The two girls continued to laugh and I couldn't help but join them, a it was a sound I hadn't heard in what felt like a thousand years, we'd been through too much to laugh like we were then.

Though, no matter how cliché it sounds, all good things have to come to an end, so, eventually, we did stop laughing. My ribs hurt so much from the rapid breathing, but I had to push through and ignore it. "Come on." Jade said, pushing herself onto the river bank. "We're still on the run from the Reatos, we should probably get back on that."

"Right, yeah." I mumbled, slowly climbing out myself.

The next ten minutes or so were spent waiting for our skin to dry, and then putting our clothes and,in my case bandages, back on again. Going into the river was a gamble, it really took up a lot of our time and chances are it gave the Reatos an advantage on finding us, but God only knows how grateful I am for it. The water cleaned off the layer of dirt that was seemingly glued to my skin and mostly took the grease from my hair. Obviously, without body wash and hair products I couldn't clean off properly, but it would do, and I was happy with it.

"Hey guys." Tori spoke up, frantically looking around her. "Anyone got the backpack?"

"You had it last." Jade said back. "Don't tell me you've lost it."

"I haven't 'lost it'." Tori replied. "It was on the floor beside my clothes when we got into the river."

"I've found your answer." I mumbled, pointing to the small track of paw prints, running from where the backpack once laid. "An animal took it."

"What?!" Jade yelled. "But our food! We don't have anything to eat now!"

"What're we meant to do now?" Tori said.

"I...I don't know."


	19. Chapter 19

Beck POV

Today was our first day back at school. While I was trapped in that basement with the Reato, I longed to be back at HA, back on the stage acting my heart out. I even longed for the boring maths lessons, and tricky algebra, just because then I knew I'd be safe and life would be back to normal. Today however, was nothing even close to normal. It was horrible.

* * *

Robbie, Andre and I walked in together, I'd decided to drive us all in today, not in the mood to face it all alone. At first it was the normal day, like nothing had changed. The hallway was crowded with people, and the chaos was so perfect, like a movie. There was the couple that was always making out on the left side of the hall, and about ten feet farther down, the cliquey girls. Opposite them, the cliquey jocks, and between them, the music kids with their huge instrument cases. There were the theatre tech kids who never did anything but show off their home-made lights and props, and the fashion kids that wheeled mannequins and clothing racks down the halls. But there was something off with it.

Jade wasn't pushing that couple out of the way, for her and I to take the romantic limelight. Andre wasn't talking to the music kids, his electric keyboard in hand. Robbie wasn't with the theatre kids, making some weird joke with Rex. Cat wasn't helping the fashion kids push around their mannequins, one of her own wacky outfits draped over her arm. And Tori wasn't by her 'Make It Shine' locker, admiring her work and pulling out her books. Sure, Andre and Robbie were here beside me, but they weren't with their cliques, they weren't in the mood for it. Things just weren't normal.

Realising that it was going to be a tough day, I went to turn away and walk back out of the school. "Nope." Andre said, grabbing my shoulders and spinning me back around. "We've had enough time off already."

"I guess." I mumbled, slowly walking into the hallway and over to my locker.

"Beck!" I heard a voice call out my name. Taking my last book out of my locker, I turned around to see the whole hallway staring at me. I looked around to Robbie and Andre, which just spread out the looks between the three of us. Everyone noticed that we were back and that the girls weren't, this is when the onslaught of questions began.

_"Where the the girls?" "Where's your girlfriend?-Does this mean you're single now?" "What happened?-Are you okay?" "Do you need help catching up with work?- I could 'tutor' you." (This one was followed by a wink). "Can you tell me about it?" "How'd you escape?- That sounds so cool." _Some were sincere, others just made me angry. It was nice to know that Sikowitz really missed us, as we '_left [him] with the shruggers_.'

There wasn't a peaceful moment the whole day, so as soon as the evening bell rang, I couldn't wait to get home, that was until we left the house to see Cat's Dad stood beside my car. "We have a lead on the girls." He told us.

"Really?" I asked, I felt my face light up like a kid on Christmas.

"Yes." He replied quickly. "You said you wanted to help, so come on. Now is the time. Follow my car out of here." He spun on his heel and walked towards a blacked-out car only a few parking spaces away. Andre, Robbie and I quickly bundled into my car and I started the engine, following Leonardo to God knows where.

* * *

No POV

The drive was a decently long one. The boys at first thought that Leonardo was leading them on a very strange route to the Valentine household, but when they reached Downtown LA, they knew otherwise. "We should turn back." Robbie said repeatedly throughout the ride, worried about where this Mafia boss was leading them.

"No." Beck replied sternly each time. "I trust him."

They, eventually, did stop, after a series of twists and turns through the busy LA streets. They drove down an alleyway and into a car park behind a normal LA building, which seemed to only be occupied by black cars with blacked out windows, and stopped the car, climbing out to meet Leonardo. "This is an undisclosed location." He said bluntly. "If it is told to anyone, this agreement we have will very quickly end, along with your lives." The three boys gulped and nodded quickly, following the man to the building in front of the car park. Leonardo typed in a code to the lock beside the door, and lowered his head for an eye scanner before opening the door. "None of my men will go against my word so none shall hurt you, but remember where you are and be careful." He told them.

The inside of he building was dark and dingy, dark coloured walls, low light and distinct smell of smoke in the air, it was a movie-perfect Mafia headquaters. Walking through the hallway just confirmed more stereotypes. There was some fast talking Italian discussion coming from one room and a game a poker in another, it was hard to imagine that the people running this place were Cat's family and that Cat had probably been here many times before. Leonardo lead the boys up the stairs and onto the second floor.

"You have a lot more men then the Reatos did, well from what we saw." Robbie spoke up nervously in a feeble attempt of small talk.

"Of course, they are just a group of gangs, we are a family." Leonardo replied bluntly. "Also, don't mention the name too loud."

"I won't again." Robbie stumbled out.

On the second floor were more rooms, one with a double door entrance. Leonardo opened the door and lead the boys in. The room was elegant in a minimalist sort of way, similar to a dinning room in design. A grand table dominated the space, an elongated ellipse of oak with the raw bark at the edges. The tree it came from had been a victim of a violent storm a few years back, upended root ball and all. The chairs had come from the same tree, each one beautiful in its simplicity, all clean straight lines and high backs. It was a fine place to conduct business with an allure of elegance.

Eight of the wooden chairs were occupied by men, clearly the top men of the crime family, each one with a stern expression, in smart grey and black suits, ready to conduct business. It was clear that they'd risen through the ranks themselves, scars of past fights on their faces, their ages ranged from about 30 to 70. There was 1 empty seat at the head of the table in which Leonardo sat, despite being younger then most of the men before him, the respect was clear, he was the leader and they were his servants. It was also clear to the three boys that they wouldn't be offered a seat, as if they hadn't earned it.

"Men-" Leonardo addressed the men. "We have very important business to discuss."

"Who're the kids?" A man about half way up the table spoke up, one of the youngest of the group. "This ain't no place for kids."

"I know perfectly well who is to be in this building Roberto." Leonardo replied quickly. "These are Catarina's friends, the ones that escaped the Reatos clutches. They are here at my request."

"Tell me." One of the older men, named Luca, beside Leonardo spoke to the boys. "You tried to save Catarina, yes? You put your lives out for her? You protected her?"

Beck opened his mouth to respond, to defend his honor. "They did what they could, Uncle." Leonardo cut in.

Luca simply nodded in response, a look of grief on his face. Clearly Cat was a part of the man's life. It was also clear to why this man was close to Leonardo, the family was at the head of the table, the head of the business.

"Now, I have called you all for a reason. We have news on the Reatos." Leonardo spoke clearly. The faces of the boys lit up at the sign of hope, news of their friends. The men at the table reacted differently, with intrigue and question in a more mature and serious way than the boys. "It has been brought to my attention by our allies that the Reatos are searching for support, which only means one thing. They are weak and desperate." The left side of his lip tugged upwards creating a sinister smirk as he spoke, the expression spreading to the other men of the table, a collective plan brewing across them. "Our attempts to get Catarina back has split their gangs, they were scared of us. All men scouting the area they left have seen no sight of their return. So, unless they are dumb enough to use one of their homes, they are without a headquarters."

"Then where would they be holding Catarina and those other girls?" A man asked.

"Jade and Tori." Beck spoke up. All the men turned quickly, looking at him with the disapproving look.

"Yes, Jade and Tori." Leonardo repeated. "He is right, we shall give them the respect of knowing their names." There was a slight pause, as if to bring himself back to the previous topic of conversation. "I doubt they would have left California, their only connections are within the state. My guesses is that they are squatting in some abandoned house somewhere."

"The cities would be too open to hide in." One man spoke up. "What about the forests in the north of the state?"

"Most don't have houses within them-" Leonardo replied "-but that was what I was thinking also. We can further pin it down by getting contact with our connections and seeing whom the Reatos have talked to, then search the areas near them."

"So-" Leonardo's Uncle interrupted again. "-we have pinned it down from maybe California to definitely California. Leo, this isn't much of an improvement."

"I don't have much to go off of." Leonardo near-growled, before changing the subject to re-control himself. "Now, boys-" He looked over to the three teenagers in the room, "-the men need to know the details. Say what you can about your treatment whilst your containment."

* * *

"I don't see how we're helping." Beck said to Leonardo as he walked them out of the building, about half an hour later."

"There's isn't much you can do if I'm honest." He replied. "But you have helped, I wouldn't have been able to tell them like you did. Thank you."

"No problem."

"We will find the girls. I promise."


	20. Chapter 20

Jade POV, the Next Day.

We walked all through the day and slept through the night. The next sunrise, we re-awoke and walked again.

The hunger was ever-present; from dawn to dusk it gnawed at us. The lack of food made us cranky, and tired. So so tired. We hadn't eaten properly in weeks, so we were already bordering the line of malnourished, but walking constantly for 10 hours a day meant we were really burning calories, calories we weren't getting back. Food was our constant obsession, we couldn't look at an animal or plant and not wonder if it was edible. We tried to gather food from the forest but we had no way to make animal traps, or work out which plants weren't poisonous. All we could do was push through the hunger and keep walking. Just keep walking.

"How have we not found anything yet?" I yelled, exasperated. "Not even a house. The Reatos house can't be the only place around."

"Maybe if we followed the dirt path-" Tori started.

"Then we would have been caught straight away." Cat interrupted bluntly. "We'll find somewhere eventually. If we're right, we're in a Cali' nature reserve which means houses aren't meant to be built out here, meaning where the Reatos kept us in wasn't meant to be there. From the looks of how old it is, it was probably built way before the rules were put in-"

"Hey Cat." I cut in. "Shut up."

We walked in silence for a few moments before I had to add something back on. "If we're in a nature reserve then why aren't there signs everywhere?"

"The forest is big." Cat replied sourly. "Chances are, no one walks out this far."

She looked sad that I'd snapped at her, and I couldn't help but feel guilty for it. Through all this, Cat's been so tough and strong, I'd almost forgotten that deep down she will still Cat. "S...sorry." I mumbled. "I didn't mean to get mad."

"It's okay." She replied, her big puppy-dog eyes seemingly looking into my soul. "You okay Tori?" She asked the half-Latina.

"Yeah... just a little hungry." She mumbled, pushing herself into taking each step. She was walking unusually slowly, almost robotically, as if her brain was struggling to tell each foot to take the next step. It was as if she were in a stupor; like someone under hypnosis in one of those scooby-doo cartoons. It was strange how fast the malnourishment was effecting her, throughout the whole of this hell-ride, she was always hit the worst with it. In the first basement she was constantly shaking, pale and tired and now it was all coming back to her. If the Reatos hadn't started giving us more food in the second basement, I dread to think how much worse she'd be now, especially as she was already barely holding on.

"Let's take a short break." I suggested.

"But we need to keep-" Cat started.

"Cat." I interrupted, nodding towards Tori, who was already leaning onto a tree for support.

"Tori, you sure you're okay?" Cat asked, rushing to Tori's side.

"...yeah." Tori mumbled, slowly lowering herself to the ground.

"You're super pale and sweaty." I commented, looking at her usually tanned and clear skin.

"T...than..ks" Tori tried to reply, her words getting lost in her mouth.

"That came out harsh, I didn't mean to-" I added.

"Woah!" Cat yelled out instinctively, rushing towards Tori, holding her arms out and supporting the half-Latina as her body rocked forward, about to fall face-first. "Ah crap!" Cat winced at the rapid movement she'd just done to her sore arm.

"I've got her." I said, taking over Cat's position to hold up Tori. "Tori? Tori hang in there." I said to the girl who was dropping forward in my arms. "Her heart's beating 100 miles a minute." I told Cat as I felt Tori's pulse through her wrist.

"Tori." Cat tried to to talk to the girl in my arms. "Tori, talk to me."

"I..." The single letter practically fell from her lips. She lost all the colour from her face as if she'd been painted with white-wash. It was as if her heart had suddenly stopped beating and all the blood had run down into her feet. She swayed in her place for just a moment before I caught her and lowered her slowly to the ground, laying there in the dirt as still as a corpse, barely breathing at all.

"What the hell are we going to do now?" I gasped. "We need a hospital."

"Like we didn't before." Cat motioned to her arm.

"Cat she's unconscious!" I yelled. "We're lucky you woke up, but she might not!"

"She won't." Cat mumbled, making sure Tori was laying in the recovery position. "Jade, I think she's hypoglycemic."

"What?" I said, wide-eyed.

"It's explain why she's been so ill, the low blood sugar." She explained.

"Don't you think she would have known if she was hypogl-whatever it is?"

"She's probably never been this malnourished before. Either way, we're wasting time, we need to find a way out of here." Cat said.

"I'll carry her." I said. Carefully, I placed my arms under Tori's unconscious frame and lifted her off of the ground; it was worrying how light she was.

"You sure?" Cat asked.

"It's not like you can do it." I sighed. "Even without your broken arm, Tori's like half a foot taller than you, you wouldn't be able to lift her let alone carry."

"Fine." Cat said back. "I'll run on ahead, it'll be quicker."

I nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that with Tori in my arms I wouldn't be able to move very fast. Suddenly, Cat bolted through the trees like an Olympic champion at the start gun, I'm sure she wasn't running that fast when we first left the Reato's hide out, but I guess she was conserving energy for a long run. She covered the uneven ground with a great lolloping gait that suggested her ankles were made of tightly coiled springs rather than the sinew and bone the rest of us have. The sight of her red-hair became less and less clear and smaller and smaller in the distance. All I could do was slowly follow behind, hoping Cat didn't get lost.

* * *

20 minutes later... I was starting to think she had gotten lost as there was no sign of her anyway. Tori really didn't look good, her skin was as pale as a sheet and slick with sweat. I thought back to what Cat said, something about low blood sugar, and I started looking for any edible plants. Once I stumbled across some Blackberries, I plucked a few and tried to get Tori to eat them. It was quite a feat, but once she swallowed a few a slight amount of colour came back to her face, not enough to wake her but it was a sign of hope.

"Hang in there Tori." I mumbled to the girl in my arms, pushing myself forward one step at a time. All I could do was focus on each footstep, left, right, left, right. My mind kept wondering to Cat and where ever she was. At first I thought she was lost, but maybe she didn't want to turn back for me and Tori, maybe she thought it'd just be faster to get out by herself. What a sneak- but Cat wouldn't do that, she always does what's best for everyone else not herself. What if the Reatos had found her? Maybe she got caught by them and is already being taken back to their hideout to be tortured again? What if they're out to find me and Tori too? Crap- Should I hide us? Should we keep going in the same direction and try to find Cat?

The pounding noise of multiple sets of shoes hitting the ground resonated off of the trees, the vibrations sent into my ears. My mind was spinning as I questioned what I should do, before settling on a decision. With Tori still in my arms, I jumped behind a large tree and crouched into it, hiding myself from whoever was there, for all I knew it could be the Reatos. The footsteps got louder and louder, I could hear how unsteady they were as if the runners were exhausted from their journey. Still, I stayed hidden with Tori, my back against the tree bark.

"JADE!" I heard a voice call out, it sounded rough and tired... it sounded like Cat. I was right, the Reatos had caught her and she was hurt. They had to be the other footsteps with her. "JADE, I FOUND A PARK RANGER!" She called out again. "_A park ranger?_"

Slowly, I poked my head out around the tree trunk. She was right, she wasn't with the Reato's she was with a man, dressed in khaki coloured shirt and hat, with camouflage green trousers. "Over here!" I called out to her, making my presence known, deciding that it was safe.

"Look!" Cat told the man, running over to where Tori and I were. "Jade..." She said, stopping beside me, trying to catch her breath from her run. "I... I found..."

"An Ambulance has been called." The man said, helping me to my feet. "The edge of the forest isn't too far that way. You're safe now girls, you're safe."


	21. Chapter 21

Jade POV

2 Hours Later

Name: Jadelyn Elizabeth West  
Status: Stable  
Admittance: 1:38pm  
Cause of Admittance: Malnourishment and possible PTS/ PTSD

That's what it says on the chart clipped to my hospital bed. Turns out I was worse off then I thought. The paramedics gave one look at me and started sticking needles in my arms for my 'malnourishment', of cause I fought back, but that just gave me another label. I wouldn't let them help me until Tori and Cat were looked after, but as soon as I saw my reflection in the metal of the ambulate door: my hollow face and limp hair... I looked horrible. I decided then to stop fighting, but it was too late, they'd already injected me with something to knock me out.

Now I lay here quietly, keeping my eyes closed, matching my breaths to the beeping of the machines that surround the bed, the only indications of my heartbeat, my existence. My body is numb, painkillers are pumping through my body from the IV connected into my arm. I've been laying here with nothing to do but think to myself, floating in and out of consciousness as my tired body gives into its need for sleep. I've just re-awoken and I'm unsure of how long I've been asleep this time. Curiosity slowly pries open my tired eyes to meet a dismal view of the magnolia colored hospital room, the door a navy blue. Same as before. I slide my eyes sideways, to see a bed beside mine, I know I wouldn't have this big room to myself but I was kinda hoping for the privacy. Slowly I pull myself upright to see who was in the bed.

I'm not sure weather to sigh in relief or gasp in shock. It's Tori, her bed must have been wheeled in while I was asleep. Her face is half covered by a plastic mask and there are more tubes sticking out of her then I have. I slowly swing my legs over the edge of my bed and pull my IV wheel along beside me as I let my feet hit the ground. The closer I get to Tori, the more I can see. Her skin looks so much more tan then earlier, nearly back to her normal complexion, and she even seems to have a tiny bit of weight back into her. I can't help but look at her chart to see what's wrong with her.

Name: Victoria Dawn Vega  
Status: Stable  
Admittance: 1:38pm  
Cause of Admittance: Malnourishment and Hypoglycemic attack.

Oh... Cat was right, Tori is hypoglycemic. I wonder how she knew.

I can feel myself falling backwards, these strong painkillers are making it hard to control my legs. I quickly grab a chair and pull it up to Tori's bedside. A few weeks ago I'd have probably laughed at the thought of Tori in a hospital bed... but now I couldn't think of anything worse. This whole situation has changed me, changed us. When things get back to normal and we get back to school I feel like the whole group dynamic's going to change. Cat's not going to be permanently ditsy and Tori and I will be able to have a conversation without it ending in me throwing something at her. I wish I'd seen how nice she was earlier, it's not her fault we started off on the wrong foot, I mean she didn't mean to spill coffee on Beck... and I completely over-reacted to it and- "I'm so sorry Tori." I whisper, the sorrow travelling in my veins but never making it to my facial muscles or skin. I can't cry, I need to be strong. She'll wake up and I'm sure she's forgiven me by now.

The sound of the navy blue doors swinging open called my attention and I turned my head back to look at it. There were two doctors wheeling in another bed, a small unconscious red-headed girl laying on it. "Cat!" I called out.

"You should be in bed Miss." One of the doctors said to me.

"Not until you tell me what's happened to Cat." I demanded, finding my way to my feet and walking over to Cat's bed, on the other side of mine.

"She's just come out of surgery." The doctor said, placing a clip on Cat's finger, connecting her to the heart-rate monitor, joining the sound of Tori and mine.

"Surgery?" I gasped.

"To realign her arm." She motioned to Cat's now properly strapped up and bandaged arm.

"And her ribs?" I asked.

"Ribs don't usually require surgery. Just a brace and pain-killers." The doctor replied. "We've taken a few x-rays and they don't seemed to have caused too much damage to her apart from some slight bruising, as long as she stays strapped up, she should heal fine."

"Now-" The second doctor added. "You really must get back into bed."

"Fine." I sighed, walking over to my own bed and laying back down into it.

"Thank you." He said, double checking that Cat was all hooked up, before walking out of the room, the large door swinging shut behind them.

"Like I'm gonna stay laying there." I said to myself in the empty room, climbing out of my hospital bed and walking over to Cat's.

Like Tori, there was a plastic mask on her face, connecting her to an oxygen machine, and a few cannulas stuck into her arms. Her heartbeat monitor was slow and steady, beeping along with Tori and mine. My eyes wandered over to her chart.

Name: Catarina Valentine  
Status: Stable  
Admittance: 1:38pm  
Cause of Admittance: Broken Radius (_Arm_), 3 Broken Ribs, Malnourishment, Abdominal Internal Bruising.

Stable. We were all stable, thank God. Wait, 'Internal Bruising?' grabbing onto Cat's chart, I looked more into her ailment. "Bruising under the skin of abdominal area and torso. Possibly from an attack and/or fight." I know when this happened, but that means she's had internal bruising for like a week now and she never even mentioned it. Oh Cat, ever the fighter. Slowly, I moved my hand and started running it through her red hair. It wasn't soft or silky, but it gave me comfort. She looked so at peace in her slumber, even if it was due to general anaesthetic. It's like she knew she was safe now and she'd found us a way out, like she promised.

We were safe, all three of us were in good hands, and all we had to do was wait until we were strong enough for our parents to come and take us home.


	22. Chapter 22

Jade POV, continued.

The next half an hour, I kept switching between sitting beside Cat and Tori's beds, wandering back and forth every 5 minutes or so. It's not like I had anything else to do within the room. Its walls were simply cream, not peeling or dirty, just cream. There wasn't any decoration, and barely anything in there at all to be honest. All that was in there was an old TV set that hung from the ceiling, no remote control in sight with a single window that gave me a view of the world below was just beside the screen. In the corner were a few chairs, frayed with wear and tear. At the door were dispensers for rubber gloves, hand sanitiser and soap. It was a typical hospital room, sparse and functional. I immediately understood why people take flowers to hospital rooms. Despite our technological lives there is something in our natures that requires natural beauty as part of the healing process. We aren't robots, we aren't "units" to be fixed; we weren't there for a quick oil and filter change. I know every place is on a budget but did a cheerier shade of paint really cost that much more?

"Mhmm." I heard a quiet slurred mumble from beside me. "Mhmm." There was movement, I darted my eyes down to Tori's bed, where the half-latina was slowly wiggling around in her bed, her eyes still closed. At first I panicked slightly, thinking she was having some form of slow-motioned seizure, but through the plastic mask the small smile on her face told me the truth, she was waking up in soft sheets for the first time in weeks. I'd woken up in such an unrested state, I didn't even notice the luxury of the pillow and blankets, but she seemed to be loving it.

"Having fun there?" I whisper-spoke, unable to stop myself from laughing at the small smile on her face.

"H..huh?" She muttered, her dark brown eyes slowly fluttering open. "J..Jade?"

"I'm here." I told her. "We're safe, we're in hospital."

"What's... what's this?" She pointed to the mask on her face, which moved up and down every time she spoke, muffling her words slightly.

"An oxygen mask." I told her. "I'll call in a doctor to take it off, they'll be able to explain everything to you." I lent over to the red 'call' cord beside Tori's bed, pulling it quickly before releasing it.

"Where's Cat?" She asked, carefully pulling herself into a more sat up-right position in the bed.

"Over there." I motioned to the bed two away from Tori's, on the other side of mine. "She's came out of surgery about half an hour ago." I informed her.

"Surgery?" She half-yelled, the mask muffling it slightly.

"That's what I said." I shook my head slightly. "It's for her arm. She's okay now Tori."

"You seem too calm." Tori said to me.

"I've had lots of time to think." I replied honestly.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked.

"A while." I shrugged.

The door once again swung open and in walked a doctor with the posture of a soldier. Every action she took was precise and purposeful. She smiled in the cold and distant way professionals do. I can never relax around such expressions. I need a genuine face, preferably a smile, but if not I'd really rather they didn't fake it. Her eyes were devoid of any make-up and her hair was in a tight bun, not a strand out of place. "What seems to be the problem?" She asked.

"My friend's just woken up." I told her, stepping away from Tori's bed for the doctor to do her thing.

"Ah yes, Victoria." She said, picking up the clipboard at the end of the bed. "Admittance cause: Malnourishment and Hypoglycemic attack."

"Good to know you can read." I mumbled to myself, sitting on the edge of my bed to get out of the way.

"Malnourishment and _what_?" Tori asked, eyes widened slightly.

"Hypoglycemia, a condition caused by a very low level of blood sugar." The doctor said quickly. "Let me examine you first and then we'll get into details." The doctor explained, bluntly dismissing Tori's question.

"O...okay." Tori stuttered, wanting desperately to know more about what was wrong with her, but deciding that the nurse knew best.

Through the examination she gave commands rather than requests. Telling Tori to remove her mask and see how it felt, checking if she could breathe okay without it. After establishing that she was fine in that department, the nurse then checked her blood sugar, heart rate, and replaced her IV drip. A nurse had hovered two feet behind, her relaxed expression of earlier replaced with a grim slash for a mouth and knitted brows.

After checking Tori's vitals and establishing that she was very much on the mend, she turned to me and started checking how I was. Unlike Tori's assessment, mine was mostly emotional, contain questions on things such as 'my anxiety levels' and 'how safe do I feel?'. My pain killers were taken down a level and I repeatedly told the nurse that 'I'M FINE!' and 'I DON'T HAVE PTS OR PTSD." Though I was ignored, my 'aggressive and closed off behaviour' apparently being a symptom.

"Now, if that is all-" The doctor stated, about to leave the room.

"Wait!" Tori called out, not able to speak properly without the constricting oxygen mask. "You were going to tell me what Hypoglycemia is."

"Oh yes." The doctor said, walking over to Tori's bed to start the explanation. "Hypoglycemia occurs when your blood sugar (glucose) level falls too low. When you eat, your body breaks down carbohydrates from foods — such as bread, rice, pasta, vegetables, fruit and milk products — into various sugar molecules, including glucose. Hormones in the blood stream regulate the sugar levels, but if your body releases the wrong amount, then you become ill, shaky and in extreme cases, you loose consciousness. For example, if you haven't eaten for an extended amount of time, like your case." She explained quickly.

"This sounds so serious." Tori mumbled to herself, trying to take in the new information. "Surely I'd have known about this before now."

"Not necessarily if you stay constantly well fed then your blood sugar level would never get too low." The doctor told her. "You should have experienced the less extreme symptoms in the past, such as high levels of anxiety and fatigue after not eating."

"I do get pretty cranky and tired when skip lunch." She muttered. "But I thought everyone felt like that."

"They do, but not as much as someone with hypoglycemia." The nurse countered. "Now that we know of your condition, you will be told ways how to keep on top of it, and how to look out for symptoms."

"Thanks." Tori said.

"Is that all?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah... I guess." Tori mumbled.

"Call again if you need anything." The doctor said curtly, walking out of the room.

"You okay Tori?" I asked, walking back over to her bed.

"It's just a lot to take in." She said, her eyes not leaving her bed sheet.

"You know, you really worried me when you fainted on us." I admitted.

"I can't really remember it to be honest." She replied.

"You just went all pale, like worse than me pale-" I started, trying to use some light humour "-and then it was like you were drunk, you couldn't talk properly or stand up right. Then you just fell..." My voice trailed off slightly as I remembered it, all the memories flashing back, crowding my brain. "It was like you..."

"You okay Jade?" She asked.

"You sound like that doctor." I shook my head. "They all think something's wrong with me, like I'm insane-"

"Post Traumatic Stress isn't insanity." Tori cut in. "It's involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic events."

"That sounds like you just recited that from a book." I said.

"It's just... my dad's got it." She mumbled. "From some of his past police call outs, like gang shoot ups."

"Oh right." I said, running a hand through my hair. "Still, I don't have it-"

"Jade, you might." Tori said slowly. "I might. Cat might. Beck, Robbie and Andre might. We all went through trauma, and from how you were just then trying to talk about me fainting, you're defiantly getting bad flashbacks."

"You've got a point." I shrugged.

"C'mere." She motioned for me to come over to her bed while she pulled herself into a full upright position. Slowly I perched down on her bed. "Closer." She said, and reluctantly I followed her orders, giving her a very questioning look. She suddenly wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, gently rubbing my arm. It took a few moments for my mind to stop questioning what was happening, and just embrace the comfort, appreciative of the simple gesture. "Thank you for carrying me out of the forest." She mumbled.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"I just know." She replied. "You're a good friend Jade."

"Thanks." I said, a small smile edging across my lips. "You're not bad yourself."

"Thanks." She mimicked. "Can you help me up?"

"Sure." I replied, standing up off Tori's bed and helping her off after me. "Where are you planning on going? We can't leave the room."

"I know." She said quickly. "It's just that Cat's waking up."

"What?" I said intentionally, snapping my head towards Cat's bed. She was right, the red-head was certainly waking up.

* * *

Cat POV

As I rouse from a heavy slumber I was first aware of the warmth of the air and its chemical fragrance. Where I laid was soft and cozy, as if I were in a bed rather than the forest floor of my last recollection. A bright light pushed its way through my closed eyelids, irritating my tired eyes. I racked through my thoughts for a question of where I was, but nothing came to me. Curiosity over-rode my mind, making my eyelids flicker open to the brightly lit room.

My head spun as I looked around said room, the bright lights hurting my eyes, something seemed to be controlling my thoughts slightly, adding a mist of distance and confusion. I seemed to be in a hospital room, plain and empty, but I had no memory of how I go there. "-_Cat's waking up._" I heard a voice in the distance, and I couldn't help but involuntarily flinch. I didn't know who it was or why there where there.

"_What_?" I heard a second voice reply. That means two people. I'm in here with at least two people. Who are they what do they-.

"Cat?" The first voice repeated, it was closer this time. Squinting my eyes, I could made out the shape of a person with long brown hair. "Cat it's me, Tori."

"Tori!" I replied, my brain automatically connecting the dots, my eyes fully focused. "Jade!"

"Cat!" Jade mimicked, copying my suprised tone.

"What hap-oof." I tried to push myself upright into a sitting position when I suddenly couldn't move. My arm was strapped up and stuck in places and my chest felt like there was an elephant sat on it. I could feel an oxygen mask covering my nose and mouth and I could see the little cannulas stuck into the back of my hands.

"You've just come out of surgery for your arm." Jade explained to me quickly. "You're being pumped full of painkillers right now."

"That would explain the dizziness." I mumbled, the mask moving up and down on my face as I talked. "-and heavy chest. How'd we get here?"

"You found a park-ranger-" Jade said. "-and he called an ambulance."

"I did?" I asked, my head still spinning slightly.

"Don't you remember?"

"A little..." I mumbled, trying to focus my mind." I remember Tori fainting and then- you're okay now aren't you Tori?"

"Much better." She smiled at me.

"Hopefully it'll all come back when the anaesthetic flushed out of your system." Jade added. "I'll call a doctor."

* * *

A few minutes later a doctor arrived, she checked my arm and my ribs (like something had actually changed), telling me that 'everything seemed to be fine' except that my ribs were still making my breaths shallow. This basically meant my mask was replaced with a nose cannula to keep me 'breathing deeply and not develop pneumonia'. To be honest, I didn't care what kinda problems I could get, I just wanted to go home. The only positive of her visit was that she gave me a mirror when I asked for it. But I even regretted that slightly. The faint bruises on my face, the paleness of my skin, my sunken back eyes, and I don't think I've ever seen my hair look that bad. I dreaded to think about how I looked before we stopped in that river, probably covered in an inch of mud.

Just as she was about to leave, another doctor walked into the room. "There is a man downstairs, and he is very insistent on seeing the girls." He told the first doctor.

"Have you called the police?" The she responded.

"We're about to-"

"Wait!" I called out, interrupting the man. "Why would you call the police?"

"The police have instructed that no one enters this room." The second doctor told me. "We don't want your kidnappers to come back and take you again."

"Bring him up here." Jade cut in bluntly.

"What? Why?" Tori, the two doctors, and I, all spoke up together.

"If it's our kidnappers, then we could turn them into the police, if not, then chances are it's someone from home." She said.

"You have a point." I mumbled.

"Send the man up with security." The first doctor told the second as they walked out of the room.

"Who'd you think it is?" Tori spoke up, an optimistic smile on her face.

"Probably your Dad." Jade said to her. "Or Cat's."

"Why not yours?" I asked.

"My Dad wouldn't come to see me if it was my last day to live." Jade mumbled, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"Jade, I'm sure he'll come here to see you." I said to her, trying to get up and go over to comfort her, but every time I even remotely pushed myself upright, the pain and stiffness just stopped me.

"Here." Jade said, walking over to my bed and clicking the bedside remote to slowly tilt my bed upright so I was at least sitting.

"Thanks." I said. "I was meant to get up to hug you but-"

The door swung open suddenly and a man walked in. He was one of those people who you could never imagine once being a baby or an infant, just a serious man in a black 'hospital security' outfit, arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Someone is here to see you." He stated obviously in a plain baritone voice, stepping aside to where another guard was stood, holding someone in a secured state.

"Papà!" I yelled. Jade was right; it was one of our dads. It was my dad.

"Catarina!" He replied, pushing past both of the guards, rushing over to my bedside and pulling me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me.

"Ah." I gaped quietly, the pain from my ribs mixing with the unstoppable fear plaguing my thoughts. I knew it was my dad and I knew I was safe, but I couldn't stop myself from flinching at his touch. Over his shoulder I could see one of the security men step forward to pull him off, but I shook my head to let them know that it was okay.

"Mi sei mancata così tanto. (_I missed you so much_)." My dad told me, his voice breaking slightly mid sentence and I could feel tears brimming my own eyes.

"Mi sei mancato anche tu (_I missed you too_)." I said to him. I shook my head into his shoulder, clearing away all the panicked thoughts that were spinning through my mind and just letting myself sink into his warm embrace and strong, protective arms that were wrapped around my frail body. The world around me melted away as I squeezed him back, not wanting the moment to end.

"Sei al sicuro ora (Y_ou're safe now.)" _He said.

"I know." I replied, switching back to my more comfortable language. "But Papa, I can't breathe-" The hug was crushing my ribs, and no amount of pain killers could hold back the stabbing feeling in my chest. Quickly he let go, the warmth leaving my body along with it. He stepped back and looked at me properly and words seemed to leave him, both English and Italian. His mind was just blank, starring at my in horror, taking in a sight that his brain refused to comprehend. My own thoughts flickered back to the brief moments that I had to take in how I looked, before I slammed the mirror down... my reaction was pretty similar to my Dad's. "I looked bad, I know." I joked lightly.

"Y...your face." He mumbled. "There are bruises. And a breathing tube?" He paused briefly. "Your arm! What happened to your arm!"

"It's broken." I said quietly.

"Why is it broken?" He directed at the security guard. "And why does she need help breathing?"

"Her records are on the chart." The man replied in the same blunt baritone voice.

While my dad reached out and grabbed my chart, I weakly flashed a reassuring smile at Jade and Tori. The two of them had retreated back to Tori's bed, just perched on the edge of it, watching the interactions between my father and I. "_Broken Arm, 3 Broken Ribs, Malnourishment, Abdominal Internal Bruising_." He read out, but too slowly to be normal. When he spoke her voice trailed slowly, like his words were unwilling to take flight. There was a sadness in her eyes, the brown too glossy. "Catarina... what did they do to you?"

I felt my eyes glaze over as the memories flashed back like a horror movie it playing again in my mind as if somehow my brain was unwilling to let the images go and in its attempt to analyse them it make me see it all over again. "I...I... I can't." I mumbled, trying to fight it all back.

"We need privacy." My Dad spoke up, looking pointedly at the guards.

"I'm sorry but we can't leave you in here-"

"Look." My dad pulled out his ID and pointed at my chart. "My name it on his chart as 'Father'. I am her Dad, you can do what ever tests you want to prove that, and as her Dad, I request privacy." It was like his personality had flipped, from my Dad to the man he is at work, a demanding leader. He was stern and in control, all signs of emotions wiped from his face.

"Fine." One guard said. "5 minutes." And with that, the two men walked out of the room.

"We will get the Reatos for what they have done." My Dad said coldly. "We will get them for the pain they caused you all." He stepped away from my bed and walked over to where Tori and Jade were sat. "Leonardo." He introduced himself. "Jade and Victoria? Yes?"

"Tori." Tori mumbled in correction.

"Your parents are very worried about you." He told them.

"I bet mine aren't." Jade mumbled.

"They should be here soon, I was, luckily, already up here when I received the call." My dad said, seeming ignoring Jade's comment.

"Why?" I spoke up. "We never go to North California."

"We had an idea over where you were, and clearly we were right. I just wish we discovered it sooner." He sighed. "I'm so glad you're all safe." He said.

"We wouldn't be without Cat." Tori spoke up.

"That's not true-" I replied quickly. "I got you into this in the first."

"This was no one's fault but the Reatos'." My father interrupted, his teeth clenched. "Which, you can't tell the police."

"What?!" Jade and Tori semi-yelled together.

"The police are useless." My dad dismissed. "We can solve 10 times as cases as them in half the time. If you give them no information then they will give up, and we can punish the Reatos ourselves."

"But my dad's a cop." Tori replied.

"And how many times has he come home, complaining about a lost case." My dad asked.

Tori's silence was her answer, not wanting to admit the truth of her father's work. "He's right Tori." I told her. "Our family always topples the police, and trust us we will get better revenge on the Reatos without them."

"I'm not sure if that is comforting or not." Tori muttered to herself.

"We need to trust them." Jade said. "The police can only do so much, Cat's family can give the Reatos what they deserve. We can get real revenge."


	23. Chapter 23

Jade POV

Sitting by the window in our room, I just sat alone in silence, taking in the view. The night sky stood an inky canopy of darkness freckled only by the fewest of stars, where just hours ago it had been a blue summer's day. The streetlights below seemed so far away it was like they were in another world, those ant-like people and all their problems were unimportant to me. My mind was empty; where there should've be dreams was a heavy blackness. There was no sound in the room, no light either, apart from the small amount from the outside the glassy pane. If I turned and squinted, I could see Cat and Tori, both of them laying still on their respective beds, their quiet breaths in time with each other. Every once in a while Cat would whimper from one of her nightmares, and all I had to do was place my hand on hers to calm her back down, before returning back to my place looking out of the window.

The day had been weird. We were so grateful to be away from the Reatos, to be safe, but everything still put me on edge. Every visitor had to be screened before they saw us, and even then a guard still came with them. After Cat's Dad came Tori's parents, and then Cat's Mom... and then after a while my own Dad. My mother was no where in sight, Dad said he didn't even know where she was. I didn't care though, I was just glad at least one of my parents decided to show up.

I never thought I'd miss him, we'd never seen face to face on any matter, especially not since my parents got divorced and mom ran off with her new boyfriend. I suddenly had the urge to tell him everything that had happened, and I could see Tori wanting to do the same with her parent... but we couldn't. Cat's Dad told us a plan we had to follow, and that following it was the only way to keep the police out of the way. We had to lie. Tori was really struggling, her Dad being a cop, and it was strange to me too.

Basically the 'rules' to our plan were:

-Don't mention the name 'Reatos'. It will give the police too many leads.  
-Act as naive and innocent as possible.  
-There is no need to lie about the place we were kept as the Reatos would have cleared out by now.  
-To cover up for Cat's injuries, she had to act like her old ditzy self again, saying that she got hurt for not co-operating.  
-We have follow the boy's story of being kept in separate places.

That was the best part of his plan, finding out the boys were safe. The Gambinos had saved Beck, Robbie and Andre. I begged for them to see us but '_Only family can know of [our] whereabouts. For [our] safety._' or some bullshit the doctors kept telling us. I didn't care. I just wanted to see Beck. I missed him so so much. I just wanted to hold his hand again, to feel his strong arms wrapped around me. To physically see that he was safe. The ache of longing to be with him echoed through the very marrow of my bones. It was a chill wind trapped in the chambers of my heart. I never knew that missing someone could take over every fibre of your being and wring you out like a wet sponge every day. It's a torment I was unprepared for. I just wanted him to know I was safe, that I was okay.

There was static in my head once more, the side effect of the constant fear and stress I lived with. Shaking my head, I wiped away the few tears that suddenly started streaming from my icy blue eyes. I let my brain wander, turning to anything to cheer me up. I thought back to music, I always sing when I'm sad. It worked over the last few weeks, so it would work again.

Looking around the room, I remembered the other two sleeping occupants and noted that I had to be quiet. Then I turned my attention back to the world outside my window for a song inspiration. The deep silver moon caught my eye, illuminating a small section of the night sky surrounding it, its dominance could not be hidden behind the creeping gray clouds. Suddenly, a song pushed its way to the for-front of my mind, shoving away all other thoughts.

**(Song: ****Talking to the Moon by Bruno Mars.)**

_"I know you're somewhere out there_

_Somewhere far away_

_I want you back_

_I want you back_

_My neighbors think I'm crazy_

_But they don't understand_

_You're all I have_

_You're all I have_

_At night when the stars_

_Light up my room_

_I sit by myself_

_Talking to the moon_

_Tryin' to get to you_

_In hopes you're on_

_The other side_

_Talking to me too_

Or_ am I a fool_

_Who sits alone_

_Talking to the moon_

_Oh..."_

* * *

Beck POV **(A/N Beck doesn't know the girls are safe at this point)**

I was sat in my room, staring out of the window longingly. About 20 songs into a random playlist from Youtube, too tired to pick up my phone and skip to the next track, I was barely listening to it anyway. Numb. Once in a while a car would pass by my windows and I'd flinch at every one of them, thinking that it was Jade. My brain kept convincing me she was safe, that she would just return one day. Like her absence was part of some evil nightmare. My eyes flicker3e to a photo-frame resting on the window sill, it was her and I. I reached out an clasp it, tears gathering behind my eyes. She was smiling, we were happy. We were at a movie together, watching a remake of her favourite horror movie, it was the best date ever. One of the only times I've ever actually seen her have fun. I briskly wiped the tears from my eyes, the memory still fresh in my mind. I wished she was there so that she could comfort me. I wished she were there so I knew she was safe.

"Please come back Jadey." I whispered to no one.

After a few moments in deep thought, my mind began to wander again. My ears twitched, picking up the song from my phone:

_"I'm feeling like I'm famous_

_The talk of the town"_

_They say I've gone mad_

_Yeah I've gone mad_

_But they don't know what I know_

_'Cause when the sun goes down_

_Someone's talking back_

_Yeah they're talking back_

_At night when the stars_

_Light up my room_

_I sit by myself_

_Talking to the moon_

_Tryin' to get to you_

_In hopes you're on_

_The other side_

_Talking to me too_

_Or am I a fool_

_Who sits alone_

_Talking to the moon_

_Do you ever hear me calling?_

_(Ah) oh oh oh_

_(Ah) oh oh oh_

_'Cause every night_

_I'm talking to the moon_

_Still trying to get to you_

_In hopes you're on_

_The other side_

_Talking to me too_

_Or am I a fool_

_Who sits alone_

_Talking to the moon_

_I know you're somewhere out there_

_Somewhere far_ away."

As the song ended, I was once again left alone with my thoughts. I picked up my phone and turned off the playlist, slowly standing up to go to bed, hoping to catch at least an hour's shut-eye. As I took a few paces towards my bed, I took a quick glance in the mirror. I was shocked. I looked okay, normal even. Inside, the ache for her gnawed at the very heart that still beated endlessly for her. I pulled my lips into a smile, and let out a frightened sob when I realised that anyone could easily mistake this lacklustre grin for real happiness. It amazed me to think; how could I look so ordinarily normal when I had crumbled inside?


	24. Chapter 24

Jade POV

A few days later.

_George__ West. _My father's signature in black ink, penned thickly with a bold triangular pennant head, resting upon the bottom of my 'Hospital Discharge Form'. A pile of papers along with it; my dietary needs to help me recover form malnourishment, a list of numbers for psychiatric professionals, and a bill. A hefty bill at that, thanks to American Healthcare not being free. I'm not worried about it though in all honesty, we have money, and I'm sure Leonardo will find a way to make the Reatos pay it all for us.

"I can't wait to go home and have a proper shower." Tori thought aloud, sure we had the hospital showers, but they couldn't compete with being in your own home.

"And lay in a proper bed." Cat added.

"I just miss Beck." I mumbled to myself. "Who, might I add, still hasn't been told that I am safe." The hint of anger in my voice was not-so subtle. Beck had the right to know, but no one was telling him.

"You know we couldn't Jade." My father told me. "For your safety."

"And you know I'm just going to go straight and see him when we get home." I retaliated.

"I do." My father replied. "And I won't stop you."

"You wont?" I said back in shock.

"Tomorrow the police want to talk to you so today is the best chance you'll get to see him."

* * *

So that is where we headed. After quickly saying goodbye to Tori and Cat, who were as desperate to leave as I was, my Dad and I started the long drive home, each passing minute making me more and more impatient. I thought, while in the hospital, that I'd be scared of the outside world and the uncertainty it brings, but during the lengthy car ride my mind was too preoccupied to be fearful.

The closer we got to LA, however, the more my brain had to adjust. The once familiar sights, the busy streets, people bustling around continuing their normal day to day routine. The place I'd grown up was somehow foreign to me. Every so often, a car horn would startle me, making me flinch, but I'd think of Beck and it would all go away. I missed everything about him. I missed his muscular arms that he'd wrapped around me as much as I missed the smell of him. Resting my head on the car window, I watched the building pass by, each metre bringing me closer and loser to him.

Eventually, after what felt like years, my father stopped the car. "I'll be back in 2 hours. Call me if you need anything." He told me. "Be careful. I love you."

"I love you too." I replied, leaning across and hugging him, before jumping out of the car and briskly walking up the driveway to Beck's house. It felt unusual to walk this way as normally Beck and I would sit inside his metal RV, but it seemed to be no where in sight.

I was almost running towards his door, and before I knew it, my arm was reached up, pressing the doorbell. A clean droning 'DING' echoed in my ears followed by a shrill voice of "_I'LL GET IT!_" from Beck's mother, she was a nice woman, abide quite plain. Her face was always made up, but not over done and her long black hair was always pulled back into a pony-tail. Her dress sense was very much 'middle-class wife', smart, sensible but lacking personality. I could here her footsteps, getting louder and louder until the _click click _of the unlocking door_. _"Hello, do you-" She began, talking before she'd really opened the door, looking exactly the same as normal." JADE?!" She practically yelled in my face, her eyes lighting up.

"Hi." I mumbled, trying not to flinch at her yell. "Is Beck in?"

"But you... you... you're"

"Missing?" I finished. "I was. I'll explain it all, I promise. Is Beck in?" I repeated, really impatiently, just wanting to see my boyfriend.

"Yes, yes of course." She invited me in and briskly walked out of the room. I started to follow her until we reached Beck's room. "Beck?" She knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" I heard his voice reply, my heart skipping a beat. He sounded tired.

"Someone's here for you." His mom said, her voice giddy.

"Tell them to go away." He replied.

"I don't think you'd want them to." She said, motioning for me to walk into the room.

"I said go away." He said as I walked in. He was laying face down onto his bed, the lights off and curtains closed, like he was hiding from reality.

"Please can I stay?" I spoke up.

There was no dulled reply to this, just a few moments of silence, his brain processing my voice. Next, within the blink of the eye, he was on his feet, looking straight at me. "Jade!" He yelled, running over and wrapping his arms around me. In his embrace the world stopped still on its axis. There was no time, no sadness, no trauma. My mind was at peace. I felt his body press in, soft and warm. This was the love I'd waited for, prayed for. I inwardly thanked God and hugged all the tighter. A love like this was to be cherished for life. Finally, I was home.

Moments later, my body shook, but it wasn't because of me. Beck was sobbing, the shock and joy too much to handle. He really missed me that much. As much as he tried to hold it in, the emotions came out like an uproar from his throat. Pulling him tighter, I rubbed my hand over his back, letting him break down in my arms. He sobbed into my shoulder unceasingly, hands clutching at my shirt. I held him in silence, rocking him slowly as his tears soaked my clothes. After a few minutes, a tiny lapse let him pull away, blinking lashes heavy with tears. As soon as we parted, I felt an absence as a cold wind, wishing I could keep him wrapped around me like a well worn sweater for always.

"I'm back." I said quietly.

"H...how?" He blubbered, smiling through the tears.

"That doesn't matter at the moment." I told him, smiling back. "I missed you so much."

"I bet I missed you more." He told me and the next thing I knew, he had slammed his lips to mine and nearly knocked all wind from my lungs. It was only a brief kiss, just a tease of what I'd been, making me beg for more. "Seriously, how?" He asked.

"Fine." I sighed, beginning the story of our escape. "It all started with one of Cat's revelations-"


	25. Chapter 25

Cat POV

The Next Day

At 8am, my dad interrupted my much-deserved sleep, my first one laying in the comfort of my own silky bed, the bed I'd been missing for so long. Even with the brace around my middle and cast on my arm, it was still the most comfortable place on earth. "The police want to talk to you." He told me as he awoke me from my deep slumber, laying a fatherly-kiss on my forehead.

"We can just be late." I mumbled in reply, pulling my pillow over my eyes to block out the irritating early-morning sunlight.

"As much as I want to make those pigs wait-" he started, "-I don't want them coming here to get you."

"Fine." I sighed, slowly climbing out of my bed. "I guess not giving them what they want will have to be enough of an inconvenience." I smiled lightly.

"Exactly." He returned an equally sincerer smirk, leaving my room for me to get ready for the day.

At 9am, Jade, Tori and I arrived at the Police station. It seemed that only our fathers were there to take us in. My mother was at home to look after my brother, and I didn't have much of an idea as to where Tori's mother was, but it didn't matter. Shortly after walking in, we were separated from our fathers and guided into an interview room.

Inside was every shade of grey, from washed out concrete to almost steel-blue. Every line was straight, every corner sharp, and in the middle of the room was a table and chairs that looked as comfortable as a train station bench. There was no back wall to the interview room, only black tempered glass. I expected it appeared crystal clear from the other side, one of the those one-way windows seen in movies.

"Reminds you of something doesn't it." Jade said darkly, but I couldn't help but agree. The grey concrete walls brought back not so welcomed memories of the basements we'd been cruelly kept in.

"Let's just hope this quick." Tori spoke up, shaking the similar images from her own mind.

The door we walked through re-opened behind us and two police officers walked in, one female and one male. The man must have been pushing forty yet he had the build of a teenager, lithe muscle under his uniform. He had the face of a father, one who could probably sympathise with our pain. The women was tall and very slight, her hair was a mousy brown, slightly greying, and her eyes were a similar icy-blue to Jade's, but they were behind a pair of black-rimmed eye-glasses secured by a heavy cord. She had the appearance of being very intellectual.

I tried to smile at them but a twitch was all I managed, as I focused on the two people, now motioning for us to sit at the table. Both of the officers looked just as friendly as a kindly relative, yet still my insides contracted like the air were an arctic flow. I always found it hard to trust the police, and those fake smiles weren't helping.

Jade, Tori and I sat on the three chairs on one side of the table, pulling our seats close together to fit. "We just have a few questions for you." The male cop started, opening up his leather notebook. "It is your choice to answer, and take as much time as you need, but the more information the better. Understand?"

"Yup yup." I replied childishly. It took all of my power to not cringe at my own high pitch voice as I went back into 'bubbly-Cat mode', but I'd decided that to cover up any questions over why I was the most injured, it could just be put down to an annoying personality and lack of co-operation.

"O...okay then." The officer said, I could see the slight confusion in his eyes over my childlike personality. I couldn't help but inwardly smile, it was the same reaction I always used to get when I'd act this way. And for some reason, I couldn't help but miss it. Beside me, Jade was experiencing the same strange flashbacks, I could see it in the slight upturn of the corner of her mouth. Cocking out my leg, I kicked her ankle under the table to stop her from giving away my position.

"Let's start at the beginning." The female officer started. "In detail, tell us everything that happened on the night you were kidnapped."

"Surely Beck, Robbie and Andre have already told you this." Jade said, raising an eyebrow slightly. This was her angle, to be back-chatty and uncooperative; the less she said, the less she could go wrong.

"Yes-" The woman replied "-but we just want to make sure your stories line up."

"Kay kay." I said chirpy. "We were in Nozu's. I had the Spicy tuna, Jade had some sushi, Tori had-"

"What happened after that?" The female officer interrupted, seeing through my rambles.

"We walked outside." I replied plainly.

"And?" The female officer encouraged, starting to gt slightly annoyed.

"We walked past an alley way-" Tori mumbled, finally adding to the interrogation. "-there were these men, with guns, who started telling us to follow them."

"Did they mention anything about why they wanted you specifically?" The male officer asked.

"No." Jade replied bluntly. "We're young, we live in LA and have decently well-off parents. You connect the dots."

"That would make sense-" The officer said, his voice lowering slightly and his smile fading "-except the kidnappers never asked for ransom from your parents."

* * *

This is pretty much how the next hour went. Me and Jade being as unhelpful as possible, and Tori barely speaking, not trusting herself to follow our made-up story. By the end of it all, the two officers were getting pretty sick of us, their tones a lot harsher than when we walked in originally. All of our answers were open-ended, as we 'couldn't remember' any real details.

When we left the interview room, I felt pretty happy with how we'd handled it all. There were no tears, no flashbacks and we led the police so far away from the truth they'd never be able to find the Reatos, leaving my father to do his job in peace. Happy, that was, until the police told our fathers of how we'd been. My father, of course, was fine with it, knowing our plans. Obviously, he could not show this, and instead pretended to pass it all off as our shock and repressed memories. Luckily, this worked and Jade's father seemed to believe them. Tori's father however, was not impressed and straight away, asked us all to follow him across the Police Station to his office.

Opening the door, all 6 of us walked in, Mr Vega sitting at his desk chair whilst Jade, Tori and I sat opposite, our fathers stood behind. My eyes briefly wandered around the room, talking in the new environment. The office was painted grey, and it had only one floor-to-ceiling window, which faced the main road. On the wooden desk sat a desktop computer, a notebook lying open, and a stack of papers sitting under a turtle-shaped paperweight. In a corner, the air conditioner was blasting at medium and bookshelf, bursting with books.

"Why did you bring us here?" My dad spoke up, voicing my thoughts.

"To ask some questions." Mr Vega replied.

* * *

Tori POV

"Tori, Darling, you need to tell me everything you know." My dad said to me, picking up the notebook from his desk and resting his pen on it. "The more the we know, the police know, the more we can help you. You need to tell me everything, all three of you do." He nodded to Jade and Cat also.

"I..." I mumbled, stuck in a dilemma of morals. Telling my dad the truth, or following what Cat's dad had told me. I've grown up my whole life being taught that the police are our protectors, but I couldn't help but agree with Leonardo. The police will only incarcerate the Reatos, that's if they even catch them... Cat's family will give them what they deserve.

"David-" Cat's dad interrupted, clearly not wanting this sudden investigation to continue. "I believe you have no involvement with this case, it is not your place to ask these sorts of things." He was clearly trying to help me out, stopping me from having to lie my way thought unnecessary questioning.

"The job isn't being done properly." My dad snapped back, I could see the hints of sparks in his fiery eyes. "Don't you want those men to be caught, the ones that hurt your daughter?"

"Of course I do." He replied calmly, but I could tell he was having to hold his tongue. "But you are emotionally involved, and we don't want emotions to get in the way of solving this, do we?"

"No but-"

"Then let the other officers do their job. Just wait." Leonardo interrupted. I wasn't sure whether do laugh or not. It was slightly funny, watching my dad get cut off like that, but I could tell he was angry.

"I am just doing what's best for the girls!" My dad started to raise his voice.

"Dad-" I tried to stop him from loosing his temper. They were both on the same side. Nothing was funny anymore. He was getting mad. Since the kidnapping, it was like something in my head clicked. I really really hated people getting mad. Being mad meant someone got hurt.

"Then let the police do their job." Leonardo replied, is voice raised slightly too.

"I am the police!" My dad yelled. Anger almost completely taking over. I first saw it in his eyes, then a tension of his muscles, an inability to think clearly soon followed. Quickly, he took a step forward, towards Leonadro.

Jade's dad seemed to suddenly appear at this moment, pulling my father back and standing between the two arguing men. "You're acting like children!"

"He's acting like the child." Leonardo said.

"Like that was mature." My dad spat.

The three men suddenly burst into a 'he said' 'he wants' 'I said' 'I want'. Their voices bouncing off of the walls, leaving me, Jade, and Cat to simply watch on in shock. The men seemed to turn back to their primitive states, trying to protect their daughters, do what was best for us, and wanting it to be done their way. The irrational anger pouring out from each of them, the rage wrongly directed towards each other, rather than towards the common enemy. They traded slur for slur, insult for insult, dig for dig, electrifying the air. When my dad's temper blew hot and he started clenching his fist, and I could see Leonardo doing the same, Mr West just trying to keep the two men apart. I just wanted to cover my ears, close my eyes and wait for the storm to abate, and I was just about to, until...

There was a loud gasp beside me. And then another. And another. My head snapped over to Cat. She was breathing all wrong, I could hear the air moving through her bronchioles like they were some kind of weird instrument. It was a wheezing really, squeaky and worrisome, too fast. She was trying hard to take in each breath, but I could see the pain etched on her face from her damaged ribs.

Within moments, I leaped out of my seat, Jade in tow, trying to ignore the ongoing argument still occurring between our father.

Crouching beside her chair, we knew she was having a panic attack. The noises were too much for her. She'd been hurt the most in the events of the passed weeks, so of course it was going to hit her worse. She was moving like her brain was demanding the energetic expenditure of an athlete but wouldn't tell her limbs what to do. Her eyes were wild and when we made her sit she started rocking, rocking, rocking. Jade and I were doing everything we could, but our calls for help were easily buried. Cat was still breathing in staggered gasps and her broken ribs were not helping the cause.

"Breathe Cat." I heard Jade tell our red-headed friend. "It'll be okay, please Cat, breathe." But the breathing still stayed fast and her eyes stayed wide. We kept trying to calm her but our words were bouncing off her like they were hard rain. She was right in front of me, her fingers white-knuckled holding onto the side of her chair, her eyes pleading for help. I told her it'll be okay. I told her over and over, stroking her back and reminding her to breath. We needed her to calm down. "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Jade screamed suddenly, completed snapping mentally. I could see Cat massively filched away, and I was about to ask Jade why the hell she did it, until I realised the silence. Apart from Cat's gasped breaths, there was no sound. The argument had stopped. The adults were now all looking over at us in shock, their minds processing what had just happened.

"Catarina!" Her father called out, rushing to where we were sat. "Oh Bamabina I'm so sorry."

"See what that stupid fight just caused?" Jade started, scolding the adults while me and Cat's father continued to try and calm Cat down. "Everyone needs to just stop interfering. It will sort itself out." She said more calmly, closing her eyes and exhaled slowly. Her sigh was of a softly deflating; it was as if a tension had lifted yet left her with a melancholy instead of relief. "I just wish this would all stop."

"Me...too." Cat gasped out from beside me, in between her deep breaths.

"Me three." I mumbled.

"It will soon girls. I promise." Leonardo told us. I looked toward the man and I could see something in his expression, like he knew something I didn't, like he was plotting something.


	26. Chapter 26

Cat POV

A month later

They said it would be over soon. They promised. They lied. It's been a month and nothing. The police keep searching and they can't find anything. I mean, this is what I wanted, them to find nothing so my father could start doing his job, but the longer they take to give up, the further away the Reatos are getting. They need to give up already. But they won't. Tori's dad is adamant to solve the case for 'his daughter's sake' but he's never going to get there. My father keeps secretly taking all the evidence they have to stop them. At this point they're so far away from the truth, they may as well be looking for the Reatos in England. To be honest, that would probably be more helpful to them, it's been so long that the Reatos might have crossed the ocean and could actuallybe there.

"Catarina?" I heard a voice call out my name.

"Huh?" Was all my muddled brain could come up with.

"In case you seem to have forgotten-" The voice continued. "-you are in my classroom."

"Oh yeah." I mumbled, the class around me snickering at my apparent stupidity. Snapping my mind backing into focus, I remembered that I was, in fact, sat right in the middle of my history class- learning about something to do with the Cold War. And the teacher of said subject, was now glaring daggers at me from behind their desk.

Mr Streng was the kind of teacher who walked into the room like he was expecting perfect order. There was none of the light-heartedness that came with most teachers of a Performing Art's school, in fact I think he despised the Arts. Ordinarily he shouted constantly in some desperate and strained voice like he was trying to follow the manual of teacher training college. But his stern features seemed as if he'd known the rules his whole life and set about ordering his desk and papers. He wasn't tweedy or one one of the trendy ones in jeans and t-shirts. He had none of the middle-aged spread that he could have had at his age. He was dressed in a classic grey suit with a golden tie over a pressed white shirt. He was in no way a fun teacher and didn't seem to care about anything outside of his lesson, as if history was the sole reason for our existence. And I had the _pleasure _of sitting in the front row in his classroom "If you are so confident as to not pay attention in my class, then please tell me: what type of plane the Soviets shoot down on May 1st 1960?" He spat out to me.

May 1st 1960? What the- We're learning about 1956. He was using a question I would in no way know the answer to to prove a point. I took all my mental ability to not reply with something blunt as snarky such as: "_One with wings_" or "_A flying one_" but I was really not in the mood for some long lecture.

"You don't know?" An American U2 Spy Plane." He replied bluntly and quickly, as if he just knew I was going to get the answer wrong. "You missed quite a bit of work Catarina-" I'd assume you would be trying hard to catch up, not staring blankly into nothingness."

"I- what?" I spat, eyebrow raised, the retaliation leaving my lips before I could even stop myself. How dare he bring up the reason I was always from school? I'd only been back under two weeks, the dark memories still so fresh in my mind and some the injuries still unhealed. I didn't at all want to be there, and it took all my willpower to even sit in a classroom without screaming from my building anxieties.

"Do you have something to add?" Mr Streng said slowly, standing up from his chair behind his desk and slowly walking towards me. It was one of those tactics teachers do to try and act all in-charge and superior. No matter how much I wanted to stand up and yell in his face about everything I'd gone through and how wrong he was about everything, but I bit down on my tongue to keep myself silent and merely shook my head, looking down at my desk. "I thought not." He said, I could see the shadow of a smirk on his sly lips. "You really have some catching up to do, understood?"

"Understood." I grumbled, my anger levels rising within me still.

Within moments, Mr Streng turned his attention back to the class as a whole and continued his talk about the Hungarian Revolution. As soon as he was facing the whiteboard behind his desk, I lent back in my chair to try and get Jade's attention, who was sat diagonally behind me in the classroom. She looked about as interested as I did in the teacher's words and I could see her fist clenched under the table, glaring straight at the back of Mr Streng head with pure rage. I couldn't help but agree with her, he really was a piece of work. "Jade." I whispered to the dark-haired girl, trying to get her attention. "Jade." I repeated, this time a little louder.

"Again, you chose to interrupt my lesson Miss Valentine?" I heard Mr Streng say. He's caught me. "That's a detention after lesson."

"Really?!" Jade suddenly yelled out beside me.

"Yes 'really'." Mr Streng mocked. "And for that, you will join her."

"But-" I started to retaliate when the door behind us burst open, crashing into the wall beside it.

Simultaneously, the whole class, excluding me and Jade, snapped our heads around to see the new intruder to our lesson. With Mr Streng glaring at me still, the not-so-deep voice of the boy at the door had already reached my ears. "Jade and Cat need to come with me." They said quickly. It seemed like they were out of breath or something, from running potentially to our classroom. Whatever they needed us for sounded important. I turned my head around to see that it was in fact Robbie, leaning against the doorway as he re-gained his breath.

"And why is that?" My teacher asked.

"They just need to." Is all he slurred out, motioning for us to hurry.

"Guess we can't stay after lesson then Sir." Jade said sarcastically, quickly slinging her bag over her shoulder and briskly walking out of the room, past Robbie.

"Come back here!" Mr Streng called out after her. With my still broken arm, moving everything into my bag was much slower than how Jade had left. "Don't you dare thinking about leaving." He said to me, grabbing my book and holding it out of arm's reach so I couldn't pack it away.

"Tough." I grumbled, leaving my book in his hand and walking out of the room after Jade, with my bag held loosely in my arm, still trying to put my pencil case inside it.

"What's the problem Robbie?" Jade asked, leaning against the wall beside the boy, who'd now mostly regained his breath.

"We were in Theatre Tech class-" He started, walking quickly down the corridor away from our history classroom, "- and Tori was looking for a camera lens in the storage room. Sinjin didn't notice she was in there and locked the door on his way past, shutting her in."

"Oh crap, I can see where this is going." Jade spoke up, quickening her pace.

"She was only in there for like 2 minutes, but when Sinjin opened the door again, she was sat on the floor in tears." Robbie finished the story.

"She must have had a flashback." I muttered. I couldn't stand to be in any room with the door shut, let alone a pitch black small storage room with a locked door.

"No shit Cat." Jade muttered, worry setting in.

"Sheesh." I replied to her sour attitude. As we walked into the theatre, Sinjin ran straight over to us, apologies practically falling out of his mouth. "It's okay, seriously." I told him. Robbie had to stop there to stop Sinjin from following us as we walked over to the stage room, where Tori was still sat inside, her shaking cries passing through the open door.

"Tori." Jade said quietly as the two of us sat beside the crying girl, her knees pulled to her chest and head buried into them. It was a sight all too familiar to me by now. At least twice every week one of the three of us was curled up in a ball in tears, the haunting flashbacks too much to handle.

It's no one's fault of course, there are just days my head just doesn't work, and I know the others feel the same. I try so hard to focus and it's like trying to run through water. My brain fogs up and thoughts go nowhere at all. Sometimes I think its nature's anaesthesia, anything to numb the pain, to wipe out the trauma. Then there are the times of clarity, sudden moments when I can see every detail and feel every feeling. The trigger can be something like turning off the light, a loud noise, even a smell. At the start I hoped it was a process to wipe out the bad memories, to stop me reliving them. Now I know it's not so simple. It provides some protection, but the price is the flashbacks and the times of confusion; the stronger the blocks become the more intense the flashbacks are - as if the neurones in my head are fighting for their lives, anything not to wither away.

Yet, as we always say to each other, "There will be a future, we will get past this" And so that keeps me living and breathing. I walk, each day another step onward, always hoping to arrive in that future.

"We'll get through this Tori." Jade told the half-latina as if she heard my thought process and repeated it aloud.

"It just..." She stuttered out, her words muted as she talked into her knees. "I was t...trapped. L...like we were. It...it felt like the walls.. the walls.. closed in... and... and I couldn't breathe."

"You're not trapped anymore Tori." I cut her off, slowly wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close to me, careful to not move my still-damaged ribs.

"Why won't these flashbacks stop?" I heard her whisper to herself, her breaths still shaky.

"Because they're still out there." I heard Jade mumbled back. "The Reatos still haven't been punished, and they could still get us."

"Why haven't they been caught yet?" Tori added, I could tell this was very much a question aimed at me. "Your dad said he would catch them."

"The police are still in the way-" I quickly tried to defend myself.

"If he waits any longer then it will be too late." She cut me off.

"I know." I sighed. "But we don't know what to do."

"Tori's right." Jade added. "They need to be caught, this has gone on too long."

Sighing, I mentally ran through the options. Talk to my dad and get things underway quicker or wait until the police have stopped wasting time. "Tell your parents you're going to mine for a sleepover tonight." I told them. "I'll talk to my dad and we'll start the search."

"Tonight?" Tori asked. "Seriously?"

"Yes." I said. "Everything's been ready for weeks, we've been waiting for the police to stop. I'm sure dad wouldn't mind starting a little early."

"Your power scares me slightly." Jade said honestly.

"What'd you expect from a Mafia bosses' daughter?" I whispered, weary of the still open door, despite no-one being outside it.

"Honestly, I don't have much experience with them." She shook her head jokingly.

"Oh shut up." I joked back.


	27. Chapter 27

No POV, that night.

The lingering light was obliterated by the rapidly falling night. The once orange and blue sky transformed into a vast expanse of jet-black that engulfed the city. A canopy of luminous stars materialized amongst the ocean of blackness. Some were dull, merely flickering into existence every now and then, but there was an adequate amount of shimmering stars to illuminate the dark, moonless night. The soft orange-yellow luminescence from the streetlights of the bustling city adding more light to the surroundings. The hum of cars still echoed around, the city not asleep, despite it being the appropriate time.

There were 6 teens who were also not asleep, 3 boys and 3 girls, all making their way to a specific meetup point. Across the city, 5 of these teens were sneaking out of their homes, careful not to awake their sleeping parents. It was easier for some than others. Jade, for example, didn't even have a parent to worry about, her father was away on a business trip. After successfully, and rather easily, leaving her home, she drove a few miles to Tori's, meeting the half-latina after the girl abseiled down from her bedroom window using a long piece of rope. "Why not use the front door?" The goth asked when Tori climbed into her car.

"My parents were downstairs." She replied.

"So you decided to turn into Bear Grylls?" Jade said back, raising an eyebrow and starting the car engine. "And why do you have a rope in your bedroom?"

"Let's just get to Cat's." Tori replied, too tired to answer Jade's questions.

Arriving at the same time as Robbie, Andre and Beck (all in the latter's car) the 5 teens knocked on the door of the Valentine household. "Let's hope Cat's brother doesn't answer this time." Andre spoke up, making the other two boys shake their heads lightly, and the two girls send him a questioning look.

The door in front of them opened to reveal their red-headed friend. "Hey guys." She said, inviting them all into her home and locking the door again behind them. "My dad's in there-" She pointed down the hallway, to where the boys had been last time they entered the home. "-he's ready to tell us all the plan."

The 6 teens walked down the hallway to where Cat's father was stood in the middle of the living room, a smartphone held to his ear. Somehow, despite it being past midnight, the man was stood in a tailor-made, flawless dark grey suit, as if he were about to walk straight into an important business meeting. He spoke into the phone in broken sentences, a simple 'yes' or 'no' or quick responses or only a few words, as if he and the other speaker were in some sort of rush. Noticing the teens walk into the room, Leo spoke one last abrupt sentence of: "They're here. I'll report more afterward, keep searching-" before ending the call. He motioned for the teens to sit down. Nothing had changed since the boys had been there last, apart from a few extra chairs pulled up beside the coaches, enough for all of the teens to sit down without being too cramped. "At your request, we started the search today-" He began to tell the teens. "-and I thought that it was only fair that we keep you informed of our actions. This would also mean that you could add anything that you know which may help us."

The teens all shared a look of acknowledgment and intrigue, wanting desperately for their kidnappers to be given what they deserve, ready to do whatever it takes to reach the said outcome. "What do you want to know?" Beck spoke up first.

"You've already told me enough through talks we've had." Leo shook his head. "I merely meant that if we were to find evidence, you could add details."

"Oh." Beck replied running his hand through his hair.

"As you know, the last record place of the Reato's whereabouts was inside that home in a Northern Californian forest." He began to talk, calmly and clearly as if every word were already planned out inside his mind. "This was where the girls were kept before they escaped."

"But that was weeks ago." Tori spoke up.

"Precisely," Leonadro replied. "Which means, chances are they are no longer there. This is where the police have majorly failed, as this is where they began to search, for a place where the Reatos would have fled."

"So that means that where they are has been narrowed down to anywhere on Earth apart from one forest," Jade spoke up, a hint of sarcasm backing her words.

"Which is why the police have been failing," Leonadro replied. "They have no leads as to where they could have gone."

"Do you have leads?" Beck asked hopefully.

"Something along the lines of one," Leonardo told them. "It's not much, but I am positive that the Reatos are still in America, and definitely the West coast, which is better than 'anywhere on the Earth." He repeated Jade's words.

"How can you be so sure?" Tori spoke up.

"You see, to leave the country, one needs a form of Identification to get on a plane, boat, or merely cross the border." Leonardo started. "And with some help from the family's remarkable connections, I have access to every document telling me who leaves this country. My men have been checking these daily, scanning for Reato names and there has been no sign of a departure."

"But surely they could have used fake IDs." Robbie asked, speaking up for the first time.

"This is a valid point until you consider: where do people get fake IDs from?" He quizzed the teens. Within moments Cat had worked out the answer, her brain practically wired to think the same as her father's, especially when it involved their family's line of work.

"People like us." She said.

"Exactly." Leo smiled at his daughter before filling in the rest of the teens on the conclusion she had made. "Most fake IDs are nothing more than a fake picture and some made up code on a laminated piece of card that underage teens use to sneak their way into a club or bar. However, to get you out of the country an ID needs to be impeccable, and elaborately set up by someone within organised crime, i.e the mafia. In this business, connections are key, and once again if the Reatos had brought any fake ID, trust me, I would know about it."

"That's reassuring I guess," Andre mumbled to himself.

"So why the West coast still?" Jade asked, referring to Leonardo's previous claim to the Reato's location.

"Power." Cat spoke up to answer her friend's question. She looked to her father for reassurance in her words, receiving a small smirk of pride from the man.

"Go on." He encouraged. Cat wad his heir to the family throne, and by letting her take some control and answer a few questions, he was slowly letting her get a taste of her future in control.

"All of the Reato's connections are in California, leaving would cripple them, even more than they already are." She spoke slowly, looking to her father every few seconds. "And besides-" She continued "- the East is way more covered in different Mafia families _**(A/N refer back to Chapter 1)**_. We may not always be on the best of terms, but we always stick up from each other in rough times. And if spotted, the Reatos would be returned to us."

"In a way, I hope they did flee East as it would make our job a whole lot easier if someone else catches them." Leo joked lightly.

"So then, where would they most likely be? California? Nevada? Washington?" Tori asked.

"Without really being able to search, this is all we know. But now, my men are working on every lead they have." Leonardo told her. "Those men will be found and they will pay for what they did."


	28. Chapter 28

**Okay, So I just spent like an hour writing this chapter out and then IT DELETED ITSELF. Fair to say I'm a little annoyed rn and I just wanted to let you know that that just happened.**

* * *

Cat POV

It's been about 2 weeks since my friends came to my home at the dead of night and since then, my father has spent every waking hour searching for the Reatos. Whether that is in the car, driving all across the West Coast or sitting in his office for hours on end, researching every piece of information he has to find any new possible lead in hopes to find them. The whole Gambino Family is set on getting this case closed and giving the Reatos the punishment they deserve, every single one of our resources is focused on it. It's a wonder the Reatos have managed to stay out of our grasp for this long... but one day they'll pay.

I can't help but be taken aback by the pure power and commitment within this business that I will one day own. This is a business often shunned by the media, world-renowned for its wrongdoings, but they never see how much of a family we are at heart. Walking through the halls of the Gambino Head-Quarters in Downtown LA, I am greeted by people from all different ranks within the business, all working hard to reach the common goal. I pass rooms of men disguising new plans; a few on a break within the gambling room, which I myself have spent many times practising my poker-face; and others set up to go to new places to search manually outside.

As I walk higher and higher up the staircase inside the building, my mind flashes back to the first time I took my friends here a few days ago after school so that they could be updated over the progress made. The boys had told me that it was their second visit (which slightly dulled their reactions a little) but it the girl's first, and they were certainly wary about it all. In all fairness, the dark walls, low light and sketchy-looking people could be daunting to those who are used to it, but it was still funny to me. The best moment, was by far when I convinced them to all play black-jack with me inside the gambling room, which was really just a dark room where some of our more relaxed meetings were held, and people took a break from their work. Being used to playing our childish version of this game at Tori's with her plastic green table, it was easy for my friends to forget that real money could be lost in this game, resulting in everyone losing about $20 and me walking away very wealthy.

Lightly shaking my head at the memory, I reach the top of the staircase, leading to the top floor where my Dad's office is. "Hi Papa." I said, pushing open the grand doors of the room, which is in a state of half-organised clutter: a mahogany desk with three drawers against the back wall where he is sat, several stacks of paperwork piled across the floor, books leaning against one another different directions, filing cabinet with paperwork stacked on top, water dispenser with no cups.

"Hey Bambina." He replies from where he sits, tired-eyed, and slumping over his desk, only looking up slightly from the paper he is scribbling on.

"I brought you a coffee." I added, walking across the dimly-lit office towards his desk. "You look tired, you need a break."

"I won't stop until they are found." He replies curtly, picking up the coffee and taking a long swig as soon as I placed it down.

"Fine." I sigh. My father's a man of his work, stopping for nothing. That's always been something I admire about him, his ability to keep going through everything to reach his set goal, in this case, to find the Reatos. He hasn't stopped working since I came home from the hospital, and he's been working especially hard for the past two weeks. I've been trying to come to his office as much as I can to keep him company and try to organise everything inside it, but it seems to be in vain as each time I come back it's a mess again. "So what're you doing?" I ask, motioning to the one large piece of paper he is hunched over. Everything seemed to have been knocked off of his desk to make room for the mammoth sheet, apart from the row of photos of our family. There's one of me when I'm only minutes old, a small layer of dark brown hair covering my tiny head; a photo of my parents on their wedding day; one of my brother at 5 years old; and one of me on stage for my first Hollywood Arts Showcase; and finally one of us all together. He really does this for his family.

"This-" My father started, leaning back into his chair to give me a better view of the paper he was hunched over "-is a map of the West Coast. " Well, he isn't wrong there, it is a map of the West Coast. However, the main detail he was missing there was what is scribbled all over it.

"What's all this?" I asked, pointing to the red, blue and black coloured in sections of the map.

"The red areas are places that have been completely searched, the blue has been partly and the black are still being searched." He explains to me.

"There are only a few places left unsearched," I comment, looking at the nearly filled in map.

"We've never dealt with anything like this before." My father speaks up randomly. "Of course, we've had to search for people hundreds of times, but never in places like these. The Reatos don't seem to have anywhere proper to stay, as they kept you in an abandoned house, so that's the places we've been having to search. Obviously, we've found more squatters than clues." He rambles to himself, placing his head in his hands, elbows rested upon the map.

Slowly, careful not to make him face-plant into the desk, I pull the map out from under his arms to get a better look at it. The whole of LA has been vigorously searched/coloured in, the layer of ink so think that is has damaged the paper beneath. Most of the livable areas of California are shaded in also, from Sacramento to San Diego, along with some of Oregon, Washington, and parts of Arizona and Nevada too. "Have you looked in the Reato's base?" I ask suddenly.

"The one in the forest?" He replies, slowly sitting upright. "Because you the police searched there a hundred-"

"No." I cut him off. "I meant the one in Nevada, where we were first held."

"We destroyed it after the boys were found." He tells me. "After searching for any sign of where you'd be, we loaded it with dynamite and set it off."

"So it hasn't been searched since you found me, Jade and Tori."

"The Reatos wouldn't have gone back there, there's nothing to go back to." Dad insists.

"But they didn't know that." I begin to say, a train of thoughts flowing through my mind. "Think back to when Tori, Jade and I escaped. The Reatos were practically ruined, they were keeping us in an abandoned house for God's sake, so I highly doubt they had anywhere left to go. The only place they could go would be that their desert Head Quarters, the ones they wouldn't know that were ruined."

"I see your point." My father says, tilting back slightly in his chair. "But if they went back, they would see the damage and they wouldn't still be there now."

"I didn't say they'd be there permanently." I continue to let the stream of thoughts lead my words to a conclusion. "They'd know that we would go back to search it, but, even destroyed, they could have used it as a temporary shelter. It's a long shot, but if they did go there, there may be evidence of where they are now."

As I finish talking, my father's full attention is on me, his big brown eyes going wide and staring straight into my carbon copy, saying nothing in response to my suggestion. I can practically see the internal thoughts whirling around his brain as he tries to process my proposition. "I think...-" He began "-that you should go for it Cat."

"Huh?" Is all my brain can fathom. I can feel my mouth slightly open and loose and my eyes are fixed as if I'm looking at something a yard behind my Dad. "Me?" I ask.

"Yes Cat, you. Do you think this has a shot? Then go for it, you're old enough to take charge in this mission." He starts telling me, sitting forward in his chair and his expression one of complete sincerity. "I'll send some of my men with you-"

"No. I want to go with my friends." I cut him off quickly, my brain suddenly able to actually produce proper words. "They want to help too."

"Really? You're sure about this?" He asks I see his expression falter slightly.

"Yes Dad. I'm sure. Please." I

"Well then. I trust your decision Cat. They're going to need training first- we can get them ready in a few days. Then you will go and search."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squeal, practically jumping over his desk and into his arms. I've never been trusted to do a mission on my own before, the most I've done is watch him work from afar. "Ti amo." I tell him as I continue to cheep while hugging him tightly, despite him being still sat on his chair.

"Anch'io ti amo, dolcezza. (_I love you too, sweetheart._)" He replies, holding me close as I close my eyes and relax into his arms. At this moment his arms squeezed a fraction tighter and I breath more slowly, my body melting into my Dad's as every muscle lost its tension. Even though so much has happened to us: all this mafia business, all the work he's been stressing himself out with recently, everything our family's gone through with my brother's problems and my Zio's _(uncle)_ death... at the end of the day we are Father and Daughter, and we show affection like any others, even if we do present it in a slightly different way. Taking the lead on this mission is a huge step towards me being in charge of the Gambino Family, and my trust me, this is also taking a huge step in our relationship.

Even if we are different from the norm, we do still love each other.


	29. Chapter 29

The Next Day At Hollywood Arts

No POV

"Heyyy guys." Cat greeted, perching down onto her regular seat on one of the thick blue plastic tables at the Asphalt Cafe, where Jade and Beck were both already sat.

"Good lesson?" Beck asked the girl, referring to her happy personality.

"Yup yup." She replied childishly. "That why I'm in a goooood mood." She pulled out the 'oo' for about 2 seconds longer than normally required.

"You concern me." Jade commented, taking a big sip of her coffee. "One minute you're super serious and controlled then the next you're all bright-eyed and bouncing around."

"There's nothing wrong with being happy." Cat beamed over to her. "Besides, sometimes I need a break from being all serious, it's exhausting."

"I think being hyper it exhausting." Jade retorted.

"We know." Beck added, wrapping his arm around Jade's shoulders lovingly.

Slowly, things were going back to normal. Beck and Jade were back to their constant shows affection, with Beck as his ever comforting and protective self. Jade was back to coffee drinking and her staple sarcastic and sassy comments. Cat was back to her random moments of liveliness and somewhat insane remarks. Elsewhere in the friend group, Tori and Andre were back to their constant talk about music and the new songs they'd been working on, really back into the swing of their regular rehearsals. Finally, Robbie had also started to carry Rex around with him again, much to the dismay of the others. The only thing keeping things from going back to normal was the looming reminder that they weren't safe. Their kidnappers were still out there and could return any day now.

Anyway, the aforementioned boy and his puppet had just made their way over to join Cat, Jade and Beck on the table. His greeting of 'Hey guys', quickly followed by the start of one of Rex's comments, was briskly interrupted by Jade leaning across the plastic table and grabbing the puppet. Next came along Andre and Tori, the former of which managed to catch the Rex while he was flying across the air from where Jade had just thrown him.

"Andre!" Robbie praised as he saw the boy catch his toy friend.

"Argh." Jade groaned. "That was gonna land in the bin."

"Come on, that was a good catch." Andre chuckled to himself, handing Rex back to Robbie.

"Thank you." Robbie said to Andre, putting Rex back onto his hand.

"In your bag or in the bin." Jade said slowly, glaring at him. "You choose."

"My bag." Robbie sighed, removing the puppet from his wrist and carefully placing it into his backpack.

"So, how's everyone's day been so far?" Tori spoke up in a feeble attempt to start conversation almost her friends.

"Not bad." Cat replied nonchalant, taking a bite the sandwich she'd just taken out of her bag.

"See what I mean when I say her mood changes like the wind." Jade commented. "She was happy like 2 seconds ago."

"I am happy." Cat smiled lightly, but it was clear that her mind was distant. "I've just remembered I've got something to tell you all."

"Is it about the search?" Andre asked.

"Yep." Cat replied, lowering her voice into just above a whisper so that no-one on other tables could overhear.

"Have they found something?" Tori asked hopefully.

"Kinda." Cat replied. "We have another lead-"

"Cat, there have been loads of leads." Jade interrupted truthfully. "We can't keep getting our hopes up."

"This is different." Cat told her. "I found this lead so Dad gave this mission to me."

"What? Why?" Robbie spoke up.

"He says it's time for me to take some control." Cat shrugged. "But that's not the thing I needed to tell you." She paused briefly.

"Hurry up with it then." Jade encouraged, clearly intrigued by what Cat had to say.

"Because I'm in charge of the mission; I get to chose who comes with me." Cat said, making eye contact with each of her friends. "So are you all up for coming."

"Yes." Beck and Jade replied instantly, almost before Cat had finished talking.

"I'm totally for this-" Tori started "-but I can't go. I'll just be dead weight, I can't defend myself or attack."

"Chances are no one will even be there, which is why Dad's letting us go." Cat answered. "Besides, if you say yes, I'll train you."

"I'm in then." Tori replied.

"How will you train us with a broken arm?" Jade spoke up, motioning to the pink cast still on her arm.

"I barely even notice it anymore." Cat shrugged. Even though the break wasn't fully healed, she was functioning pretty well. It had been about a week since she last wore her rib brace, and a recent doctors appointment told her they were as healed as they'd ever be. **(A/N By now it's been like 7 weeks since Cat was hurt, so according to the time, this is appropriate.)**

"Andre, Robbie?" Cat asked.

"I...I'm not a violent person Cat." Andre said honestly.

"You're strong though." Cat retorted. "Andre, if anyone is there, we're going to need your strength. You're probably our best fighter, you could probably beat me with a bit of training."

Andre looked around nervously at the rest of his friends before briefly closing his eyes to think. "I'll do it." He said, eyes still closed.

"Thank you Andre." Cat said sweetly, leaning over to the boy.

"What is this 'training' going to be?" Robbie spoke up.

"We have a place, well it's basically an empty warehouse, not far from here." Cat started to explain. "For a few hours after school this week, I'll teach you the basics: how to fight, defend yourself, some simple tricks, how to shoot a gun."

"A gun?" Robbie gulped.

"You'll do fine Robbie, honestly." Cat said, smiling slightly. "Just try it tonight, then if you decide you don't like it, you don't have to come on the raid."

"Alright then." Robbie sighed. "I guess I'm in."

"Yay!" Cat squealed happily, bouncing up and down in her seat. "Thank you, everyone!"

"And there's the mood change again." Jade shook her head at the smiling girl.

"What can I say?" Cat giggled to herself. "Things are going back to normal again, and if this mission is successful, things will be normal again."


	30. Chapter 30

Robbie POV, that day after school.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was very scared. Slightly intrigued, but scared. I've just had to lie to my parents, telling them I'm staying behind after school to study when in reality I'm in my car following Cat's pink mini cooper to God knows where.

The reason I'm scared is that what I do know about where we're going, is that the place is basically the Gambino Family training grounds, where mafia workers train. Cat's reassured me that no one except us will be there, but still- this is where criminals train. I know that this is Cat's business, her family and- well I can't ignore that they are part of something that does horrible things. I've grown up my whole life being scared of organised crime, even more so after being kidnapped, and I can't just flip a switch and change my view on it because of Cat. I am trying though. I've known that girl since Middle School, and I can't just suddenly think badly of her now, but her family does scare me and this situation scares me.

I know my car journey is coming to an end when a warehouse is in front of me. I should have expected it. The houses gave way to an empty, barren road a full twenty minutes ago and the surroundings looked very similar to that of an abandoned junkyard. The old machinery stands outside of the warehouse, covered in dirt and scavenged into skeletons of whatever they were. I force my mind back into the present so I can take in its form. Still, it has the curved roof like an aircraft hanger and the walls are corrugated tin. The broken tarmac around it is empty except for an old-timey forklift – it must have been in use when this warehouse was. Well, it's proper use that is. Seeing as we're here, I'm presuming the inside is now a secret training grounds.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" I heard Tori ask as the 6 of us climbed out of our cars and onto the tarmac.

"Yep." Cat replied nonchalant, leading us to a dulled metal grey door on the side of the warehouse, typing a 4 digit passcode into a pad beside it, followed by a series of loud clicks.

As the 6 of us filed in, I quickly tried to take in my surroundings. Looking up, the corrugated iron roof was domed some thirty-five feet above us, like a shanty-town cathedral. In front was a mostly empty, vast room. In one corner, was a pile of mats, punching mitts fighting dummies, punching bags, boxing gloves and padded body covers, practically the whole of a marsh-arts store cupboard. Beside it, a square of thick mats surrounded by rope, in a style that I could only describe as being a make-shift boxing ring. In another corner, more strength and endurance based equipment: thick ropes which hung from the high ceiling, ladders bolted to the metal walls, a set of strong metal pull-up bars and finally a large selection of very heavy looking weights. I suddenly felt like I'd just walked into a more temporary looking Hunger Games Training room.

"What'd behind that?" Jade asked, motioning to the 20ft tall metal wall blocking off the other half of the warehouse.

"The shooting section." Cat replied nonchalantly. "Oh don't worry, it's not dangerous. The wall's only there 'cause a gun went off by accident and shot a guy lifting weights."

"That's the definition of dangerous." I spoke up, gulping at the image my brain was making up of the scene Cat had just described.

"We're not going near the guns yet anyway." Cat said, leading us across the warehouse to where the marshal arts stuff was.

No POV

Pulling a few thin mats off of the pile and laying them on the floor, Cat addressed her friends. "We'll start with something basic today, how to attack." She started, telling the others to circle around the mats. "Who wants to go first?" She asked, to which no one responded. "Oh come on. Andre?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Andre mumbled, stepping back. "Especially with your arm still in a cast."

"You won't trust me." Cat replied. "Jade? You like fighting."

"Was that an insult?" Jade replied, raising an eyebrow.

"In a training room? No." Cat told her bluntly. "Come on, grab a head guard." She told the goth, motioning to the pile beside her."

"Fine." Jade rolled her eyes, picking up two of the foam protection head guards, handing one to Cat.

"I don't need one." The redhead replied, throwing the guard back onto the pile.

"But aren't I fighting you?" Jade asked, connecting the velcro padding on her head.

"Yep, but I don't need protection." Cat shrugged. "I've fought men twice your size in my training Jade." She reasoned.

"I _so_ wanna prove you wrong." Jade growled, walking over to the mats.

"Fine by me." Cat said calmly. "I want you to try and pin me to the ground." She explained, walking over to the mats too. "Do whatever it takes, just keep me stuck there. I wanna see what you can do."

"Now?" Jade asked, raising her fists up.

"Now." Cat clarified, keeping her hands held against her sides.

Within a few milliseconds, Jade had rushed forward, planning to tackle Cat to the ground. But somehow, in an even shorter amount of time, Cat had managed to move out of the way, practically teleporting. Noticing she had been tricked, Jade spun on her heel and tried again, getting the same result as Cat dodged to the side in one fluid motion. "How are you doing that?!" Jade yelled at the redhead.

"You're too predictable." Cat shrugged.

Fueled with the need to prove herself, Jade quickly swung her fist out to hit Cat in the face. It was so nearly a successful hit, Cat not having enough time to step back, and instead of having to contort her back downwards to the point where she was limbo-ing under Jade's arm. "Was that predictable?" Jade said smugly.

"You really need to stop talking when you fight." Cat shook her head, quickly pulling herself back up again. "I was vulnerable then, you could've knocked me over."

"That would have been too easy." Jade said, trying to cover her error. She carefully thought about her next move, shooting her right leg out but her movements were far too slow. Cat's good arm snapped from her sides to out in front of her, grabbing Jade's ankle and stopping it from making contact with her stomach. With ease, she merely pushing it back towards the floor again before the redhead's hands returned back to her side. It was obvious that she wasn't fighting back and for some reason this annoyed Jade. "Fight back!" she yelled, frustrated that Cat was being so light on her.

"Really?" Cat asked, raising an eyebrow. "You saw what I did before the Reatos took us."

"I said I want to prove you wrong." Jade growled, beckoning Cat forward.

"I like that about you, Jade." Cat said. "And sorry in advance."

"You won't need to be so-" Jade started, being cut off by a sudden fist making contact with her stomach. For a brief instant, her cerulean blue eyes widened before she managed to tilt her head back and slam it into Cat's. Stars burst in Cat's vision but she shook it off, quickly throwing out a kick. Jade was sent crashing to the ground where Cat jumped atop her rapidly, her feet planted onto Jade's wrists. "Argh!" The gosh yelled, trying to wriggle free under the red-head.

"I told you to stop talking while you fight." Cat told her.

"Just get off me." Jade grumbled.

Cat followed what she said and helped the goth to her feet. "No hard feelings alright?" Cat said sweetly.

"No hard feelings." Jade repeated, shaking her head to herself. "It's just frustrating you know, that you just beat me that badly even with a busted arm."

"That's why I'm training you." Cat smiled. "How's your stomach?" She asked.

"Sore." Jade admitted. "How's your head?"

"I think I did need that head guard." Cat joked, rubbing her forehead where Jade head-butted her.

"Woah." Tori spoke up suddenly, reminding Jade and Cat that their fight did have an audience.

"You next Tori?" Cat asked. "I won't fight back if you don't want."

"What exactly did that just teach us?" Robbie cut in.

"It was for me to access your strengths and weaknesses so that we can work on them." Cat told him. "Now I know that Jade is fast but predictable. Strong and determined but can let that anger cloud her vision."

"That's fair." Jade shrugged.

"So, who's next?" Cat asked, continuing the training session, looking around at the rest of her friends. "Come on Andre." She said, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him forward.

"Why me?" Andre groaned.

"You were closest." Cat shrugged. "Plus I'm kinda excited to see how you fight. You're probably the strongest out of all of us."

"I don't know how to fight." Andre mumbled, running a hand through his dreadlocks nervously.

"That's bull' man." Beck cut in. "I've seen you at the gym, you're always punching the boxing bag."

"But that's not like fighting anyone." Andre defended.

"Here." Cat cut in, throwing handing Andre two boxing gloves and a head guard. "We'll try it in the ring."

"What? I-" Andre started to stutter out an objection.

"Just come on." Cat encouraged, putting the two big padded gloved onto her hands and a guard on her head. "I'm definitely going to need this guard for boxing." She thought aloud (as to not insult Jade over how she wore the guard with Andre and not her) whilst walking over to the roped off mat section. "It's not a proper ring or anything, but it's softer underfoot and will stop anyone falling over the edge."

"Fine." Andre sighed, putting the gloves on his own hands and joining Cat in the ring, while the others stood just outside of the ropes.

The two stood in opposite corners, both in a semi-crouch position. "Like Jade did, I want you to just go for it." Cat told him. "I'll just be defending myself, only punching back if I need, but probably only with my good arm as I don't wanna make the other one worse."

"What about your ribs?" Andre asked.

"The bones are all fused back together now so you don't need to hold back." Cat told him honestly. "Stop telling yourself things to worry you."

"But I-"

"Just start already." Jade piped up from the other side of the rope.

After briefly closing his eyes and shaking his head, Andre slowly took a step out of his corner, Cat following suit on the opposite side. Both were bouncing slightly in their steps towards each other until they were mere few feet away. Cat looked eyes with the much taller boy and gave a curt nod for him to go. Within moments, Andre lunged forward with his left foot, throwing a quick, straight punch thrown with his right hand from the guard position. It was certainly a strong hit, the sound of his impact (hitting the gloves Cat brought up to her face for protection) ricocheting around the room.

"Good Andre!" Cat encouraged, slightly taken aback by his force and very impressed with his Jab, but staying in the same guard position. "Again." Andre quickly threw out another jab, hitting the same spot with the same force. "Again. Again." Cat repeated and Andre followed, a small smile of enjoyment appearing on his face. "Now mix it up." Cat cheered on.

The exertion was slightly getting to Andre now, and a small sheen of sweat was forming on his brow, but it was clear that he was actually enjoying the exercise. Once again, he followed Cat's command, switching his jab hit for a 'right cross'. Basically, he turned slightly on his back foot so that his punching arm crossed his body, travelling towards Cat in a straight line, throwing his body weight into it. Unfortunately for him, it was slightly too high to make contact with Cat's 5ft frame, so the red-head merely weaved under it. "Again." She said for the umpteenth time. And, as he had done every time before, Andre followed her words and swung his arm out again, this time making contact against her held up gloves. "Try a hook." Cat suggested.

"What? No way." Andre replied, knowing that hook entailed punching Cat in the side of the head.

"Just do it." Cat said, still bouncing slightly on her feet, seemingly fine after the hits taken from Andre.

Once again after briefly closing his eyes and shaking his head to prepare himself, Andre stated the semi‐circular punch thrown, drawing his elbow back with a horizontal fist while his rear hand was tucked firmly against his jaw. He rotated his torso and hips slightly clockwise, propelling his fist through a tight, clockwise arc across the front of his and connecting with the side of Cat's head. Everyone was expecting Cat to easily take his punch, as she had done with all the rest, but her protective glove was held up to the right side and not the left, meaning Andre's punch connected straight with her temple, sending her head snapping around and her body ungracefully crashing into the slightly padded ground. "Cat!" He yelled out, dropping to the floor beside the red-head "Oh my God, I'm so sorry- I.. I." Andre stuttered, stopping as soon as he noticed that Cat was laughing at him, beside herself, in a sort of hysterics. "What's so funny?" He semi-yelled, the rest of the teenagers racing into the ring towards them.

"I... I thought... you were... " Cat breathed between gasps of laughter, her stomach shaking as she fought each gale of giggles. "You're right handed... I expected a right hand... punch." She continued to giggle.

"And how is that funny?" Andre asked, wide-eyed. "I thought I'd hurt you!"

"It was just funny to me alright." Cat sighed, shaking her head, trying desperately to stop herself from dissolving into another puddle of giggles, while the others helped her to sit upright. "It was stuck a rookie mistake on my half." She added.

"So you aren't hurt?" Robbie asked.

"Not really, just surprised." Cat said. "I need to congratulate you there Andre, I really wasn't expecting a left hook."

"Can we stop fighting now?" Andre asked feebly.

"Sure, I know all I need to." Cat shrugged. "You're strong and have good technique-" She started "-you just aren't confident in yourself Andre. You're strong, remember that, don't be scared to show it."

"Yeah I guess." The boy replied shyly.

"If you hit someone like that in the case of a fight, they'd be out for sure without the helmet I was wearing. You should be proud of yourself there Andre." She finished, pulling herself up to her feet. "Right, who's next?"


	31. Chapter 31

An hour or two later, Cat had found everyone's fighting strengths and weaknesses:

Tori took the marshal-arts approach, knowing a thing or two from watching Trina in her karate lessons. Cat's conclusion was that Tori knew the techniques but didn't have the strength behind them, all she needed was some strength training to fix that.

Beck was the opposite, being strong enough to lift Cat off of the ground at some points, and even get a solid punch in, but his technique was very sloppy and could easily be dodged and tricked.

Robbie, like Andre, was scared to hurt her, though the whole group was sure the boy wouldn't even leave a scratch. They were right, the only real damage he inflicted was an accidental hit to her damaged arm, sending shock waves through the redhead's arm. However, that wasn't even very a strong punch as a shake of the arm later, Cat was fine. Nevertheless, it was quickly discovered that he was good at dodging and weaving anything Cat threw at him, it wasn't much, but it would tire out anyone they fought against. "Maybe guns are your thing." Cat shrugged, trying to give the boy some hope.

By the end of the first session, Cat knew all she needed to help her friends out with their fighting, so they stopped after Robbie's spar, promising to pick it back up the next day after school. Each of them left a considerable bit sweatier than when they walked in.

* * *

The Next Day, after school, the teens re-gathered at the decrepit warehouse where they would continue their training. Today was the first day where they would be working on fixing their weaknesses, this entailed each of the 6 teens (including Cat herself) working on different aspect of their training.

Firstly, Beck and Andre were in the ring with each other, Andre teaching Beck some of the techniques, while Beck was helping Andre to get more comfortable with fighting. Tori and Robbie were both between the punching bags and weight training sections, just working on building some muscles. Cat and Jade had opted for the endurance equipment and were currently racing each other up and down the ceiling-high ropes.

"How the hell... did you just... beat me?" Jade yelled very out of breath, her feet just reaching the floor after carefully sliding down the ropes after a very intense race between her and Cat. "You've still got a busted arm for God Sake!"

"I've had practice, and you've never climbed a rope before." Cat shrugged.

"It's just... not fair!" The goth grumbled, regaining her breath slightly and stomping her foot childishly.

"Remember what we're working on here." Cat told her.

"'How to not get mad.'" Jade replied, resisting an eye roll. "I can't see why we can't do that though something more fun and... less exhausting."

"Because you're fighting is fine, you just need to learn to not get too angry because then your judgement gets fogged." Cat reminded. "Should we do a push-up competition?"

"I don't understand how all this 'you beating me' is going to make me calm down. If anything it's making me madder." Jade grumbled.

"Each day you'll get better and better, and by the end of this week, especially with my messed up arm, you'll be beating me. That way, you'll see that your past frustrations were pointless because you can do it." Cat reasoned.

"Fine." Jade sighed, seeing the logic to the redhead's thought process. "Let's start doing push-ups then."

Not too far away, Beck and Andre were stood inside the 'boxing ring'. At this moment in time, Beck was the one throwing the punches towards Andre, who had punching mitts on his hands. "Left, left right!" Andre called out, holding up the appropriate mitt for the other boy to punch. "Left right left. Right le- ow!" He yelled suddenly.

"Sorry!" Beck apologised quickly after throwing his right arm out instead of the left and therefore sending his gloved fist into the other boy's shoulder.

"It's alright." Andre replied through clenched teeth, the pain from his shoulder radiating through his body. "You're strong."

"I've got a bad aim though." Beck shook his head. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Andre said, quickly rolling his shoulder to push the pain away.

"Let's take a break anyway." Beck suggested, grabbing his water bottle and taking a quick swig of the liquid inside. "All of this is a bit surreal isn't it?" He said randomly, wandering over to the edge of the ring, towards where the others were training.

"I keep feeling like I'm part of the Hunger Games or something." Andre added, joining the other boy. "It sure looks like it." He continued. "I mean, other there Tori and Robbie are attacking punching bags to get stronger." He nodded to the pair who were stood about a metre away from each other, both working to exhaustion to build the strength up. "And Jade and Cat are competing against each other to do push-ups."

"The two of them really are going at it." Beck added, watching the two girls do pushup after pushup, facing each other directly to see who could do more. "Especially Cat, that can't be good for her arm."

"It's not." Andre replied, cringing. "I can see her body shaking from here."

"Me too." Beck observed. "Cat!" He called out in a feeble attempt to stop the red-head from pushing herself too far. However, she merely ignored him and continued to push her body up an down.

"You get Jade and I'll get Cat?" Andre asked.

"Alright." Beck replied, somehow knowing exactly what Andre meant.

Within a moment, the two boys pushed themselves over the rope on the ring's edge and ran over to the girls. Once reaching them, Andre and Beck stood behind one of the girls and quickly pulled them upright. "Hey! I was about to beat her!" Jade yelled at her boyfriend.

"You two need to stop pushing yourselves like that." Beck shrugged. "Especially you Cat, that was not good for your arm."

"It's fine." Cat mumbled, hiding the true pain that she felt from her arm.

"Sure it is." Andre shook his head. "How about we stop for today? I think Robbie and Tori need to break too." He nodded to the two others, even from the distance they were, he could still see the sweat glistening on their foreheads.

"Well, we could start on the gun training." Cat pondered. "If you think you're ready to learn that too?"

* * *

After some persuasion towards some of the less willing members of the group, it was decided that they were, in fact ready. Therefore, Cat lead them out of the warehouse and to her car, much to the confusion of the others. "What're we doing out here?" Robbie asked.

"There's no way we'd just leave guns inside a low-security warehouse." The red-head informed him. "So we have to bring them over here ourselves." She continued unlocking the rear door of her mini cooper and pulling a fake floor out the bottom of her trunk to reveal a locked box. "They're in her. Help me get it out please?" She asked.

Andre and Beck stepped forward and carried the heavy leather box out of the car, back into the warehouse and across it towards the walled off area. After opening the door, the gang were suddenly inside a room that could only resemble a shooting range. There were two sections, only separated from each other by long metal bar spanning across the room. On the side, the teens were on was a collection of items that anyone would need whilst using a gun: a row of hangers where ear protects were laying, spare targets, and protective glasses for example. On the other side, was a long empty space with 6 human silhouetted targets on the end, about 30 feet away from the metal bar.

"None of you will be handling anything more than a handgun so I'll only train you with pistols." Cat started, crouching down and unlocking the box the boys had carried in. "But don't be fooled by the guns being small. They could still injure someone or kill them so I am not kidding when I say you've all gotta be smart with these things. If you're getting frustrated; put the gun down. If you're getting cocky; put the gun down. If you feel like you're losing control; put the gun down. These aren't toys." By the end of her speech, she had pulled out one of the pistols, loading it with a few bullets. "I'm hoping like hell that it won't get to the point where we'll need guns because I don't want any of you to be hurt, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Do we need protection?" Robbie asked, motioning to the protective goggles and ear covers.

"Definitely." Cat nodded, handing out 5 pairs of goggles and placing some over her own eyes, before doing the same with the ear-covers, and lead them over to the metal bar, planting her feet into the ground. "Before shooting, you need to take your time and relax." She told her friends, holding the gun out in front of her with two hands, aiming out to the target in front of her. "Make sure you're looking in the right place-" She contained. "-and then shoot." Following her own instruction, she shot. Even with the ear covers muffling part of the sound, the gunshot cracked into the air as loud as thunder but without the raw power of a storm. The bullet, a lone .223 Remington propelled out of the barrel and ripped through the air, piercing straight into the centre target.

Then silence returned far more thickly than it was before the shot as if everything around them was collectively holding its breath. Now the teens were stunned, flashbacks of their kidnapping invading their thoughts as they fought to remain focused. This was no time for PTS(D). They were being trained for this and they had to get over it.

"I'll teach you all one at a time here for at least today and tomorrow." Cat said, lowering the gun and turning back to face her friends. "Robbie, you'll go first right?" She looked slightly uneasy, even with her years of training, the kidnapping really shook her up and the memories of guns were still in the back of her mind. It was clear that she was forcing those thoughts to stay back there, out of the way.

"I... um..." The curly-haired boy mumbled, his mouth suddenly dry.

"I'll take you through step by step." Cat encouraged, walking over to him and slowly placing the gun in his hands.

"O...okay." Robbie sighed, looking down at the gun in his hands with slight shock.

Together, the two teens walked over to where Cat was stood prior, the other's not far away. "Hold your gun out in front at chest height." As she spoke, Robbie followed her words, raising the gun out with shaky hands. "You need to keep still." She said, holding her hands over his until his shaking subsided a little. "Now focus on the front sight." Cat continued, pointing to where she meant. "Put your finger on the trigger. There's going to be a little kickback, so just keep your hands tight around it and don't let go." She explained quickly "Now shoot."

BANG! The sound echoed through the air, shocking even Robbie and making him stumble back slightly to where Cat was stood to stop him falling. "How'd I do?" Robbie asked nervously.

"You hit it man!" Beck spoke up suddenly, walking towards them and pointing out to the target, where the hole Cat had made had been expanded slightly by his bullet. "Right where Cat did!"

"He's right!" Cat squealed happily. "I didn't even hit the target sheet when I first shot. That's really impressive."

"Weren't you like 10 though?" Robbie mumbled, shocked at his work. "Anyway, It's just luck."

"Let's test that. Go again." Cat told the boy. Once again, all of the teens stepped back apart from Cat and Robbie.

Like before, the curly haired boy slowly raised the gun, took a moment to focus and shot. Once again, hitting the middle of the target. "That doesn't seem like 'just luck' to me." Tori spoke up.

She was right; it wasn't just luck. In fact, all 5 of his shots hit the inner circles of the target. He really did have a hidden talent. Next went Tori, who also, surprisingly, did very well. None of her shots were as close as Robbie's but they did all hit the target. The rest were as Cat expected, most hitting but some going competently haywire.

"That's convenient." Cat thought aloud once each teen had taken their shots and they started to leave the warehouse.

"What is?" Beck asked.

"Beck, Jade and Andre are good at physical combat while Robbie and Tori are good with guns." Cat expanded on her random reflection.

"Your brain really is something." Jade spoke up, shaking her head at Cat's randomness.


	32. Chapter 32

Eventually, the weekend came. And it came quickly. Each day the teens got better and better at their skills and were now ready to face anything. It was most likely that they wouldn't need to use these skills when it came to their 'mission' but it was something helpful for them to have.

Through some persuasion, each of the teens (bar Cat) had managed to convince their still worrisome parents to let them 'go to the beach' together on the Saturday morning. In reality, they were obviously doing nothing of the sort, but it's not like they could really tell the truth. Therefore, at 9am, they all left their respective homes in shorts and t-shirts, only to drive to the Gambino HQ to have to get changed into something more suitable. Once they'd all arrived they split into boys and girls, taking two of the decked-out Mercedes with: secret compartments, hidden weapons and blacked out windows, and started the drive to Nevada.

"I'm dreading going back there." Andre said from the passenger's seat of the high-tech, brand new, car. "It'll just bring back memories."

"Cat reassured us that the building was completely destroyed." Beck replied from the driver's seat, keeping an eye on Cat's car in front. "But I know what you mean."

"I'm just trying to distract myself with all the stuff in here." Robbie spoke up from the back-seats, where he had just discovered a new button which revealed another secret compartment. "This is the 5th one I've found."

"The Mafia sure do know how to hide their stuff." Andre replied, humouring the boy who was clearly trying to cover his own nerves.

After a few minutes of silently driving eastwards, Beck spoke up. "A part of me wants the Reatos to be there. We're better trained and they're weaker. We could just kill them." He said coldly, still focused on the road ahead.

"I doubt they're gonna be there." Andre sighed. "If there was a real chance, we wouldn't be the ones being sent out. All we're looking for is any evidence that they went back there to plan their next step and tell us where they are now"

"I know, I know." Beck said back. "But, I just want this over I guess."

"We all do Mate." Robbie spoke up. "Once they're gone, things will go back to normal. We'll all go back to our lives of wanting to be famous singers, actors, musicians, theatre techs-"

"And a Mafia boss for Cat." Andre cut in jokingly.

"I guess it won't be _totally _normal then." Robbie joked back.

"If none of this ever happened, do you think she would have told us about her family?" Beck said randomly. "Or do you think she'd just disappear one day and not talk to us again."

"Cat's always been a little odd Who knows how her mind works." Robbie shook his head to himself. "I'd like to think she would have told us though."

"I guess we'll never know."

* * *

Jade POV

"Is everyone okay?" Cat asked as we climbed out of the cars, leaving us stood in the middle of the Nevada desert, miles from any towns. The cruel sun beat down on us, it's one malevolent eye unblinking, and the sky was its co-conspirator with not even a wisp of cloud to soften the harsh rays. It made me wish I really had gone to the beach like I'd told my father.

"Yeah." We all replied lazily, stood staring blankly at the only thing around us that wasn't just miles and miles of rolling sand. It was the Reato's old headquarters. Big emphasis on _was. _Cat's father had blown it to ruins after the boys were found, leaving it no more than a ragged pile of rubble where the walls had long since crumbled, the ground dusted with rock powder and the smell of the explosives still lingering in the air. Looking closer to the pile, I could see memories of a fire and not a small one at that. Everything left was blackened and charred from where the flames had licked at them. Nothing seemed to escape the fire, glass littered the floor where the windows had broken and the metal base of the grand chandelier lay blackened and twisted on the ground.

Clearly, the Reatos weren't here now, but that wasn't why we were here. After we escaped, they wouldn't have known their old headquarters were in this state, and they may have returned and left something behind on their brief visit. All we had to do was look for it. "So what exactly should we look for?" I asked.

"Just a sign of anyone being her recently. Any forms of shelter or clues that anyone had been looking through the rubble." Cat replied.

"L...like this?" Tori spoke up. Simultaneously, the rest of our heads snapped over to her, realising that she had wandered away and was stood very close to the pile of ruins.

"What is it?" Cat asked, parkouring her way over the broken beams and dusky rocks to where the Half-Latina was stood.

"It's like someone's moved the rubble out of the way and to this staircase," Tori replied, pointing to a place in the rubble.

By the time the rest of us had got there, I could see exactly what she meant. It did look like that. Basically, underneath the ruins were a set of stairs leading down to the basement- the one where we had been kept- and it seemed like someone had been down there after the building fell. The rubble either side of the descending steps was built slightly higher, balancing precariously atop each other and the steps themselves had nothing on them. "I really don't want to go back down there." I heard Robbie speak up from behind me.

"I think we're going to have to." I mumbled, my mouth going dry just thinking about returning back down there. The memories of our captivity already racing through my brain.

"It looks like it's the only thing here." Cat mumbled, pulling her phone out of her pocket and turning on the built-in flashlight. After quickly exchanging a reassuring look, the rest of us copied, mentally preparing for the next stage. Then Cat went first. Tentatively, we followed down the crumbling stairs, their structure clearly had been compromised by the fire. I was afraid they may give way whilst we were still going down them. I could almost feel the presence of my flashbacks surrounding me and a cold tingle ran down my spine as the dark corridor ahead came further and further into view. I was absolutely petrified although I reassured myself I would be fine, however, a part of me didn't quite believe I was right. "Is everyone okay?" Cat asked again, seemingly for her own sanity rather than everyone else's.

"Yeah." We all replied again, though this time our voices were weaker than before, a whisper even.

Nothing really had changed since we left. The corridor was still cold, damp, mouldy and cramped, not allowing us to move in anything more than a single-filed line. Along was were still metal bolted doors, some with small movable slits like the ones you'd see in a Solitary Confinement at a prison.

Approaching the first door, Cat (who was at the front of our line, one place in front of me) raised her shaking hand and gently pushed against its cold metal. My ears resonated with the quiet squeal of the hinges as the room slowly became visible. We peered through the darkness, but found no one within it, making my stomach knot as a wave of uncertainty crashed over me.

Cat raised an unsteady leg and stepped into the room, her eyes scanning around the room. It reminded me too much of the room we'd been kept in, but it wasn't quite that room. Apart from our torch lights, it was pitch black, and couldn't have been more than a 2 metre square. There was something familiar about the walls of the thick grey stone though, and my brain was telling me it wasn't because of the room we were kept in. My eyes continued to scan the small room, only Beck, Cat and I fully inside of it. Something caught my attention. A small metal object reflecting my phone light. Handcuffs. Handcuffs bolted into the wall.

Suddenly, my body washed cold.

This is the room Cat and I were taken **(A/N in Chapter 5) **and first 'interrogated' for information. I was trapped against one wall and Cat on the opposite. We were helpless. Trapped. Vulnerable. But overall scared. So, so scared. This was where I was strangled to get information out of Cat. Where I watched Cat get beaten, kicked, punched and left hanging unconscious against the wall.

I shook my head to try and push the flashbacks away, and focus on looking around the room again. Though this was in vain, as straight away I looked to Cat, and from her current expression, I could see she was remembering the same horrific events. "I don't think there's anything in here." I spoke up, hoping to leave quickly.

However, neither Cat or Beck replied. Both of them looking like pale-faced empty shells. I knew why Cat was having flashbacks of this room, but Beck? Why would he? _Oh. _He was the one who was taken to Cat after she was left hanging in here for 2 days and he saw her get tortured again. **(A/N in Chapter 6) **I can't believe those sick men could seriously hurt Cat, not only once but twice.

"We should really get out." I spoke up again, louder this time.

"What?" Beck mumbled, unaware of what I'd said, only processing the noise.

"There's nothing in here." I replied, slowly and carefully guiding the two back out of the room, closing the thick metal door behind them.

"Tori, Robbie, Andre?" Cat called out once we were in the corridor, her mind coming back to her, noticing the lack of the other three teenagers.

"In here." Tori called back, walking out of a room beside us, the door identical to the one I'd just shut. "There's nothing in this room. You found anything?"

"Nope." I replied quickly. "L...let's check in there." I stuttered, raising a shaking hand towards the door in front of us, that I knew would lead to the room we were kept in.

"Can't we just skip that one?" Robbie asked, his face pale and mouth dry, walking out of the room Tori had just come out.

"We have to go in." I replied, sighing and pushing my body weight into the door.

There it was. The hollow cube of concrete, one way in, no windows. The room where you could have no idea how much time had passed or even if it was night or day, totally disorientating by design. There was still a small bulb hanging loosely from the ceiling, in the corner was a metal toilet and sink along with it, across the room from it was the pile of broken wood from where Andre had taken apart the 'bed' during our stay. Everything was the same. Almost.

"Someone's been in here." Cat observed, motioning to the subtle changes within the room. From the discarded food wrappers littering the floor to the hap-haphazardly laid blanket in the corner, it was clear that someone or some people had been here briefly, as a place to stay for a day or two to hide.

"Do you think it was them?" I asked hopefully.

"I can't think of anyone else it could have been." Cat shrugged. "It's worth a look around."

The 6 of us started to search around the room for anything we could find that could even remotely resemble a clue. We scanned the food packages, hoping that there was anything of use on them, stupid really as a best-before date for some bread really wasn't helpful.

"Guys!" Tori called out suddenly. My head snapped over to the half Latina, who was wheedling what looked like a map. "This was under that blanket." She added.

Within moments, the rest of us were beside her, asking 101 questions about what she'd found. After quickly letting us to be quiet, she laid the map on the ground. At first glance, it was nothing important, just a map of the roads on the East coast until I noticed the pencil marks on it. "Look here." I spoke up, pointing to the marks.

"Whoever was in here planned out where they were going next." Beck observed. "And then they just left this map here."

"If this was the Reatos-" Tori started. "-then they're here." She pointed to where the pencil trail ended.

"This is just too good to be true." I shook my head "Who leaves a map behind and doesn't notice it's gone?"

"Maybe they had 2 maps and only used one?" Robbie suggested. "Either way, this could be where the Reatos are! If we're right, then all of this will finally be over."

"Come on then." Cat grabbed the map and held it tight in her right hand, a small smirk making its way across her face. "Let's head back and tell my dad the news."


	33. Chapter 33

No POV

After a hell load of bad luck, things were finally looking up for the teens. Cat thinking of searching in the old Reato HQ was good luck. Being allowed on the mission was good luck. Finding the map was good luck. And the best luck of all? The map lead right to the Reatos and their hideout- another old building in the middle of nowhere.

The Gambinos had attacked with full force, capturing all inside, which was a very pitiful amount. Turns out, the Reatos had lost almost all of their men once the girl's escaped. The spares were killed instantly, but Micheal and Carlo were taken back to the Gambino Head Quarters in Downtown LA and tortured to death, deserving every single bit of pain they got. As soon as their hearts stopped, the HQ exploded with celebrations. Even the teens had all driven over once the news was announced the triumph. Months of work, searching and horror were finally over.

Throughout the night in the Headquarters spirits rose right out of our chests, shouts of joy echoing around. They cheered for the Family's victory, a reminder of how strong they can be, that they were truly capable of anything. They cheered for the end of a lot of work. They cheered for Cat's safety. They cheered because they could. The Mafia may be a very serious organisation, but they are, at the end of the day, Italians and Italians love to party. There was everything from alcohol to gambling inside the building of no-laws, all buried underneath the constant chatter and cheer of the loud Europeans. The celebration went on into the night, everyone moving like they'd forgotten how to stand still, like their limbs were made of spaghetti, faces an epic picture of pure excitement. They'd be captured and things were only going to get better from here on in.

"I'd like to make a toast." Cat stated at about 3am, calling order to the large group of rowdy adults. Despite most of them being over 50 years older than her and completely drunk, they all listened instantly, knowing Cat's rank within the family. "Sometimes it takes a few more words to say something right, and I know many of you are too wasted to even comprehend my words right now." She began the speech, receiving a slight chuckle from the more sober members of the room. "So I'd just like to say a Thank You, to all of you, for everything you've done for me and my friends. This family really is one to be proud of, and one that I will be proud to inherit from my father when the day comes. You are all truly loyal to this family and will be rewarded for your efforts. I'd also like to Thank my friends, for not going completely insane and spinning our secrets to the cops as soon as they got the chance, and for that, they are all honorary Family Members." Suddenly, there was a loud eruption of jumbled applause and slurred calls, cheering on the Teens. Cat merely raised her small glass of red-wine to the crowd, signalling the end of her speech, and walked back over to her friends.

"'Honorary members'?" Jade repeated the redhead's words back to her.

"Yup." Cat smiled, taking a small sip of her drink. "For the rest of your lives, your enemies are our enemies. Anyone causing you trouble, they have to go through us. You have no where to go? You have a family here. I know you all want to go into singing, acting, music, tech etc, but the option is always there."

"I'm flattered." Robbie replied to her. "I think?" Cat smiled at him slightly and shook her head to herself.

* * *

It was about half an hour later when the teens found an empty room, overlooking the city, still alive with lights, despite the time. The cityscape was unapologetically urban. There were no trees or city planted blooms, just monoliths of concrete soaring out of the sidewalk in an exact grid pattern. At night it was beautiful in its own way, so many lights just liked stars dropping to the earth, huge and small buildings collided in a mixture of shadow and geometry, tiny vehicles rushing along tangled lines of streets creating twisting threads of light - they all intertwined together in a magnificent mess of dream.

"I can't believe it's finally over." Tori spoke up, sitting in the middle of the floor with the rest of the teen in the empty room, the sound of the not so distant party still seeping through the walls.

"Neither." Andre replied from beside her. "I'm bloody glad it is though, I can finally move on with my life, start thinking about the future, about college."

"That's the next step I guess." Beck sighed. "Leaving Hollywood Arts and off to college."

"I don't really want to leave." Cat spoke up. "I really love it there."

"We all to Lil'Red." Andre smiled weakly to her, using the old nickname. "But we've gotta leave at some point."

"Where is everyone even going?" Robbie asked randomly. "With all this going on, we've never really discussed it."

"I've got my heart set on UCLA." Beck replied. "So has Jade."

"Awe." Tori gushed. "That's so cute."

"Oh shush Vega." Jade rolled her eyes jokingly. "Where are you going then?"

"I really want to get into Juilliard." The half-Latina replied.

"Hey, me too." Andre added. "We'll get in together."

"What about you Rob?" Beck asked.

"Somewhere in New York." He started. "Near Broadway, I wanna work backstage there. What about you Cat?"

"I haven't got a clue." The red-head admitted. "I don't really need to go anywhere, I have my life planned out for me here."

"You'll find somewhere Lil'Red." Andre told her.

"That's the second time you've called me that." Cat observed.

"Don't you like it?" Andre asked.

"No- I do like it. It's just you've called me that twice, and Jade just called Tori 'Vega'. We really are going back to our old ways." She finished.

* * *

**Aaaaand that's a wrap! I've spent literally months on this story and I hope you all like it. I've sacrificed so many hours when I'm meant to be revising to do this, so I also hope it's worth it and you enjoyed reading it. **

**Also, Thank You for Reading and please leave a review telling me what you liked/ didn't like.**

**-Summer Melodies**


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